


We are where we want to be

by rulolarata



Series: Always on the run [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel 616, Runaways (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon - Comics, Canon Compliant, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 15:59:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16452944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rulolarata/pseuds/rulolarata
Summary: The final part of Always on the Run has arrived!More adventures, more romance, more Nico and Karolina goodness.An invisible threat hangs over the Runaways, and it's up to them to figure out how to deal with it and carrying on with their lives. Will they rise to the occasion?





	1. Hatchets and burials

**Author's Note:**

> Yes!
> 
> The final part of the trilogy is here. 
> 
> This chapter takes place immediately after the ending of With you at my side, there's some good old fluffiness at the end, I hope you like it!

“- Hey, Nico”

 

Alex Wilder is here. Well, shit.

 

“- Who let you out of hell, Wilder?” Nico asks.

 

Alex doesn’t answer, he, very slowly, steps out of the car, taking one hand to his head, frowning when he sees it comes out bloody.

 

Nico is two seconds away to use her Staff on Alex, maybe not wasting a spell, but a good whack with it it’s not out of the question.

 

“- Listen, guys - -“ Alex begins, still too weak to make sudden moves , but whatever he wanted to say gets cut short.

 

“- Alex…” Molly hugs him, time itself seems to stop. It’s very easy to forget sometimes Molly is only fourteen and she’s been exposed to the same shit the rest of them, that she has a gentle heart and deserves the world. “- You’re here, so… our parents...?”

 

Alex shakes his head.

 

“- Oh” Molly says.

 

Karolina goes to Molly and takes her away hugging her tightly.

 

“- You have ten seconds to explain” Nico turns to Alex pointing at him with the Staff.

 

“- Look, guys I…” Alex raises his hands “- I know how this looks”

 

“- You were stalking us, you piece of shit, what do you want?” Nico asks.

 

“- I wasn’t!” Alex says.

 

“- Bullshit” Chase aims his fistagons at Alex.

 

“- I swear, I wasn’t stalking you, I- - I was protecting you!”

 

“- Like hell you were” Nico says.

 

“- Listen, Nico, could we talk about this, in private?” Alex asks.

“- Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of all of us” Nico responds still pointing the Staff of One towards Alex.

 

Alex fidgets with his hands, a habit he seemed to have picked just recently, Nico doesn’t remember ever Alex doing that and it annoys the hell out of her how easily she notices the significant changes in him, he is taller for one, as tall as Karolina, and has filled out, long gone is the lanky physique of his sixteen year old self, there’s also the mannerisms, his fidgeting is new as is the constant look of distrust in his eyes, no, now that Nico thinks about it, that was always there, she just didn’t see it back then, in fact, all of his old other attributes are still there, the cold arrogance in his smirk, the self absorbed posture, god, how much Nico hates him, how (and why) did Nico date him and even miss him before?

 

“- A couple of months back” Alex begins “- I was contacted by one of my, er—former associates—”

 

“- Villains buddies” Chase interjects.

 

Alex throws an annoyed stare at Chase who looks all too pleased with himself “- One of my former associates informed me a time traveler was asking about the Runaways, I had to check it out, and it turns out there is someone hunting us down, I came back to L.A. to check on you”

 

“- That’s some nice fantasy you got there Wilder” Chase says.

 

“- Look, it’s all true, I confirmed it myself, you see, time travel leaves –"

 

“- A particular energy residue” Gert interrupts Alex before one he throws one of his lectures “- Yeah, we all know that, what of it?”

 

Alex looks at Gert with a mixed look of concern and uncertainty “- I have equipment to measure that kind of energy, I traveled to any site whenever I got a spike of it, asking around I found the same story over and over again, some dude in a red armor appeared out of nowhere and asked about the Runaways”

 

“- Still doesn’t explain why you were stalking us” Nico says.

 

“- I wasn’t--! Okay, whoever this guy is, is following a pattern, he is looking into every place any us spent a significant amount of time in, Colorado, New York, I only heard about this because he appeared first at Bagalia for all the time we spent over there”

 

“- Let’s pretend for a second that we believe you” Victor says, and everyone turns to him “- Even if you’re telling the absolute truth, why do this mean you’re trying to protect us or even that this mysterious guy in armor is a threat?

 

“- I’m sorry, and you are?” Alex asks.

 

“- Victor, we don’t know each other, but I heard about you”

 

“- Okay, fair, I don’t know if we’re in danger or not, but when was the last time a random guy from the future is good news?” Alex says.

 

“- Alright, thanks for the warning, we’ll take it from here, c’mon guys” Nico turns towards the Hostel entrance, urging her friends to follow her.

 

“- Hey, it’s actually kind of late, can I spend the night?” Alex asks to none in particular.

 

Nico turns her head furiously “- Absolutely out of the question!”

 

“- I think I have a concussion…” Alex pleads.

 

Nico sighs, she still hates his guts, but she still has a heart, mostly “- We’ll drive you downtown, you can grab a cab or something there”

 

Alex concedes, he wipes his forehead with her hand, trying to get the blood out of his eyes “- Okay, what about my car?”

 

“- You can tow it later” Chase says.

 

Chase, Karolina and Nico take the van and drive Alex to a populated area, leaving the rest of them in the Hostel to get some rest. The whole trip is filled with awkward silence and even more awkward attempts by Alex to make small talk. After half an hour of driving, they reach a bus stop, it doesn’t matter which, Nico opens the door of the van “- This is it, Wilder, go”

 

Alex takes his time stepping out of the van, he seems like he wanted to say something but before he had the chance Nico closes the door and Chase drives away.

 

The drive back home is a lot more relaxed but still awkward, Nico appears lost in thought until, out of the blue she starts talking “- We need to talk about this” She says and takes Karolina’s hand.

 

“- Yep” Chase says “- But let’s wait until we get home, everyone deserves an explanation”

 

Back in the Hostel, all the Runaways are gathered in the living room, Nico is looking at the floor, grasping Karolina’s hand for support, after a long silence Nico begins to talk.

 

“- After Murderworld—” Nico choke on her own words, she can’t do this, only the grounding feeling of Karolina squeezing her hand allows her to continue “- After Murderworld, the survivors got together and planned on killing Arcade, we tracked him back to Bagalia, we infiltrated the Masters of Evil” It sounds so ridiculous in her ears Nico can barely believe what her seventeen year old self did “- There I met Hellstrom, a literal son of the devil, he brought Alex back from hell, and… well, I was in a bad place, a lot of stuff happened, but yeah, Alex is back, as you obviously saw earlier”

“- Cool, so, what are we gonna do about him?” Gert asks.

 

Honestly, this is what Nico needed, no judgement, no questions about the past, just the acknowledgement that Alex is alive again. “- I don’t know” Nico answers.

 

“- And what about the guy that’s been asking about us?” Gert asks again.

 

“- I’ll talk to Captain Marvel, see what our options are” Nico answers.

 

The room’s fell silent, there’s little to say anyway, but Nico can see the look on their faces, especially in Gert’s. Running to the Avengers for protection is not something she would normally do, they are the Runaways, for fuck’s sake, they are super powered people, fighting is simply a part of their reality and Nico has to deal with it. Time to act like a leader.

 

“- Whatever this is, guys, I have to say, if things come to worse, I’m ready to fight, I will not depend on someone else to protect us” Nico says.

 

“- Oh, fuck yeah, that’s the Nico I know” Chase says.

 

“- You will not be alone, we’re together in this” Karolina says placing a hand on Nico’s shoulder.

 

Nico gives Karolina a sad smile and takes her hand “- Thank you” Nico says.

 

-

 

They all agree in taking the night off, unwind, relax, everyone goes change their dirty clothes, Chase makes some popcorn and Molly goes to bring some sodas, they try to watch a movie just to distract them for a bit. Nico excuses herself arguing she’s exhausted. Karolina knows better, after a couple of minutes she spends debating herself on whether go to check on Nico, she decides it’s time to see if her girlfriend is alright. Karolina climbs the stairs and enters their room.

 

 

Nico looks like shit, sitting on the bed, gaze down looking at her shoes, tense, eyes puffy and red. It’s hard for Karolina to see, sure, she has seen Nico in some really low points, today is different though, she supposes it’s only normal, Nico’s first love, who betrayed them, died, then, apparently, resurrected by the son of the devil (what the fuck? I mean, really?) and has been, again, apparently hanging out with supervillains for more than a year, came out of nowhere and just dropped a bomb, someone might be threating them, and there’s time travel involved… Okay, it probably is taking its toll on Karolina too.

 

Karolina sits beside her girlfriend and hugs her, to her surprise, Nico doesn’t hug her back, she keeps avoiding her and scowls, the Nico Minoru trademark sign that she really needs to talk about something but doesn’t have a clue how to begin.

 

“- Babe?” Karolina asks her.

 

Nico doesn’t answer, she just shakes her head.

 

“- Everything will be okay, we’ll be safe, we can handle whatever they throw at us” Karolina tries again.

 

“- It’s not that” Nico says.

 

“- What is it?”

 

“- I’m sorry, Karrie”

 

“- About what?”

 

Nico squeezes her hands tightly and finally looks Karolina in the eye “- About Alex… I… I hooked up with him”

 

Karolina can’t stop herself “- What? When?” She asks.

 

“- Back in Bagalia, Chase got badly injured in a raid and was in a coma and I was so scared and alone and… I was in a bad place, look, I kinda lived with him for a few weeks”

 

Karolina twists her mouth in confusion, seems like Nico takes it the wrong way, she reaches for Karolina’s hands and locks eyes with her.

 

“- I’m so, so sorry, Karrie, I should’ve tell you before, I swear I’ll never hide anything from you from now on, and of course I want nothing to do with him, I’ll make it up to you somehow, please don’t break up with me”

 

Karolina smiles warmly at Nico, she tries to convey all the understanding and care she can muster in that smile “- Nico, baby, no” Karolina takes her hand to Nico’s face and begins to caress her face, trying to use her thumb to wipe out some offending tears “- I don’t care about that”

 

“- You don’t?” Nico asks, new tears welling up in her eyes.

 

“- Of course not” Karolina says and kisses Nico’s forehead for good measure “- That’s in the past”

 

Nico sniffs and wipes at her eyes, those damned tears have no end “- Really?” Nico asks.

 

It Breaks Karolina’s heart to see Nico so unsure, doubting again and again about her own good nature, about the very nature of the past, she want’s nothing more than wrap her arms around Nico and reassure her, preferably every day, how much Karolina loves her.

 

“- Baby, listen” Karolina says “- The past is important because it helped form who we are now, but it doesn’t define us, we know that, we’ve battling that ever since we became Runaways” Karolina grabs Nico’s hands capturing her full attention “- I don’t care who you dated before, you’re my girlfriend and we’re together now, that’s all that matters”

 

Complicated past comes with the territory of being a Runaway, there are times when Karolina feels like complete shit because, in her time with Julie, the poor girl had to walk on eggshells around Karolina, or maybe it’s more accurate to say Julie traveled a mine field on a daily basis avoiding touchy subject after touchy subject that Karolina refused to acknowledge. With Nico is different, she knows Nico would only be supportive of her; and today Karolina has the opportunity to show her girlfriend her full support and love and, wait, what the fuck? Nico is crying, Karolina fucked up.

 

“- Oh my god, Nico! What is it?”

 

Nico keeps sobbing and shakes her head, she practically launches herself against Karolina’s arms, hugging her tightly “- Nothing, you’re just so perfect” She sniffs again and breaks the hug momentarily, looking Karolina straight in the eye “- Thank you for understanding, I don’t know what I did to deserve you”

 

“- You have nothing to thank me for, it’s what any decent person would do, honestly, I’m just covering the bare minimum here” Karolina says.

 

“- Like hell you are, you’re amazing” Nico hugs Karolina Back.

 

It comes to Karolina a heartbreaking realization, Nico is being one hundred percent candid, she does think what she is doing, i.e. understanding her girlfriend, is something out of the ordinary; Karolina also remembers all the times Nico has shoulder the weight of their relationship, like their first date and how Nico was stressed out of her mind to make the occasion perfect, Nico is just not used to being loved the way Karolina is.

 

Alright, it’s not like Karolina’s romantic life has been perfect or anything, but at least she’s had healthy relationships, okay, maybe just one, but dammit, Julie was a superb girlfriend who always took Karolina’s mind into consideration and reminded her of the wonderful parts of being in love. She’s gonna maker her mission to remind Nico exactly how loved she is every day until it finally sticks in that thick skulled, stubborn, gorgeous head.

 

“- I love you, Nico, all of you, your past, the person you’re now, and everything in between” Karolina kisses Nico’s temple and, finally, feels her girlfriend relaxed in her arms. She gives her another kiss for good measure and hears Nico giggle, which in turn, prompts more and more quick, playful kisses, Karolina’s heart melts at the cute noises she elicits from Nico “- And you are adorable” Karolina says interrupting her barrage of kisses.

 

“- You really are amazing” Nico says and crashes her lips with Karolina’s, not for a cute quick kiss, but the deep, long kind that makes Karolina’s head swoon “- It’s been a long day, how about you give a minute and maybe we could continue this conversation, with a lot more kisses”

 

“- Can barely wait” Karolina says and watches Nico getting up and going to the bathroom, throwing her shirt halfway and giving her a suggestive wink. Well, the day was shit but it looks like Karolina will end it surprisingly well, sure, she’s more than likely to be up until late, knowing her girlfriend it will be very late and she will wake up the next morning feeling sore all over her body and probably wouldn’t be able to walk properly, but it’s a perfect way to start showing Nico how much she loves her, it’s more than worth it.

 

 - - -

 

So, what do you guys think?

 

I get that is not the most thrilling chapter ever, but it’s only the beginning, I think I plotted a good way to finish this story, so stick with me.

 

I personally like the last part a lot, it sounds weird but I love writing Nico’s insecurities, she’s my favorite Marvel character and I love exploring how human she is, it’s also a perfect excuse to write some sappy fluffy scene filled with kisses  :D


	2. Double date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being super powered kids, The Runaways have, occasionally, made friends with members of other super teams. One of them steps again into Karolina and Nico's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What normaly happens every time two super teams encounter each other in comics? They fight! What happenes in this chapter, actually they just have lunch because I want all my babies to be happy and well fed :D

“- She’s late” Nico glances at her phone for what it seems like the hundredth time.

 

“- Well, she’s like that sometimes” Karolina says.

 

Nico lets out a huff and readjusts herself in her seat. For the last twenty three minutes they have been sitting in a bench in a small mall near Santa Monica, not a bad morning to be out, the day is quiet, the sun is up and everywhere you look you can see people having a good day. Nico looks at her phone again.

 

“- How can she be late? She lives like two blocks away?” Another glance at her phone and Nico sees the clock changed, that’s twenty four minutes waiting.

 

Karolina shrugs “- Maybe she’s fighting an evil clone or rescuing a possum, or she’s trapped in a stake out, who knows?” She notices Nico is looking at her phone again and slaps her hand lightly “- And you need to stop looking at your phone every five seconds”

 

Nico pulls out her tongue playfully, she’s about to suggest to just bail and seize the day themselves, she can think of at least a few dozen better ways to spend the day with Karrie instead of waiting, several of those are clothes optional, when a couple of familiar voices catch her attention.

 

“- I told you we were gonna be late”

 

“- We’re not late”

 

“- How the fuck are we not—”

 

“- We’re fashionably late”

 

“- Oh, c’mon”

 

“- Okay, we’re a little late, it’s not the end of the world”

 

Nico turns her head and immediately finds who she was waiting for plus a little surprise, from a distance she looks like any other person around, just a normal girl, fit built, medium height, her long black hair in a messy low pony tail, tight fitting black jeans and a loose white t-shirt tucked in; what gives away her identity is the ever present splash of purple in her outfit, this time in her purple snickers, her even more ever present aviators, and of course a collection of cuts and bruises patched with band aids on her cheek, forehead and arms, Kate Bishop, Hawkeye, former young avenger, former private investigator, current leader of West Coast Avengers and walking disaster of a girl, waves at Nico and Karolina enthusiastically.

“- Karo! Nico! So good to see you!” Kate shouts from a distance.

 

Karolina gets up from her seat and rushes to give Kate a bone crushing hug, Nico looks past Kate and finds the owner of the other voice. If Kate is recognizable by her outfit, America Chavez shines like a firework in her black biking shorts, miraculously, she’s not using her trademark jacket, so her sports crop top leaves her toned abs and muscular arms in display, Nico admits she is a sight ot behold, many people agreeing with her, turning their heads towards America making themselves trip more than once.

 

After Kate squeezed the air of Karolina’s lungs, it’s America’s turn “- It’s been so long, Karo, you’re as beautiful as ever”

 

“- You too, America! I didn’t know you were coming” Karolina says worrying about a possible punctured lung.

 

Nico walks to say hi to America, but she stops dead at the scowl she’s greeted with.

 

“- What the hell, Minoru?” America says.

 

“- I’m sorry?” Nico asks in confusion.

 

“- Kate tells me you finally went full gay and you didn’t even think of letting me know in advance? I’m hurt”

 

“- Hurt” Nico answers dryly.

 

“- Wounded even”

 

After a moment, Nico can’t keep a straight face, neither can America, they both go for a warm hug.

 

“- I’m very happy for you, seriously” America tells her.

 

“- Thank you, America, I am very happy myself”

 

“- So, who’s the unlucky soul that gets to tolerate your annoying ass?” America asks her.

 

“- Oh, you already know each other” Nico says and takes Karolina’s hand “- America, Kate, Karrie and I have been dating for a few months now, she’s my girlfriend” This is actually the first time Nico can introduce Karolina as her girlfriend to a friend, other than the rest of the Runaways that is, and she’s overjoyed, there’s just something wholesome about voicing her relationship, besides, it makes Karolina almost hop with giddiness which is always a plus.

 

“- Oh my god! Fucking finally!” Kate exclaims and rushes to break another one of Karolina’s ribs with a hug “- This is amazing! Also, Wiccan owes me money”

 

America is contented with giving Nico a friendly fist bump on the shoulder “- Damn, Nico, you really went for broke, you lucked out!”

 

“- I absolutely did, this is the best thing that ever happened to me” Nico says gazing lovingly at Karolina, she has become such a sap.

 

“- Please, I’m the lucky one” Karolina says, she steps to Nico’s side hugging her lightly and giving her a kiss to the temple “- I’m finally together with the love of my life”

 

“- You two, are disgustingly cute” America says “- So, before you make me lose my appetite, how about we get lunch? I’m starving”

 

“- Of course, there’s a lovely place just around the corner” Karolina says granting her skeptical looks from the other girls “- And they don’t only serve vegan food”

 

They walk a small bistro near enough to the mall, it’s a nice place, next to the pier with plenty of open spaces and overpriced food, the exact kind of place you would think Karolina goes to when she’s hungry, the menu is printed on the outside and it takes the group a whole minute to decide “- Why don’t you guys pick a table” Karolina says to Nico and America “- And Kate and I will order, what do you want? My treat by the way”

 

“- The roasted veggie sandwich, and whatever juice you’re having” Nico says, she notices America is giving her the weirdest look ever “- Don’t say a word, America, I’ve been living with Karrie for months, is normal she rubbed off on me”

 

“- I fucking bet” America says with a smirk making Nico blush, there’s no way in hell she’ll let pass the innuendo “- I want the crab cakes, a carne asada burrito with extra salsa, a fish tacos order, orange juice coffee and a large milkshake and a waffle”

 

“- Maybe keep it down a notch? We’re kind of in a budget here” Kate says.

 

“- Don’t listen to Kate, America, I’m buying remember?” Karolina interjects.

 

“- You’re seriously the best, Karo, because she starves our team” America says pointing an accusing finger at Kate “- You starve me, Bishop!”

 

Karolina laughs and hooks her arm to Kate’s leading her into the bistro to order their food. Kate turns her head and sticks out her tongue to America before disappearing inside.

 

“- You really found a keeper, Nico” America says already seated in a table on a corner of the bistro’s terrace.

 

“- Yeah, she’s amazing” Nico walks towards America and grabs a seat across her.

“- So, what have you been up to?” America asks her.

 

“- Really? Trying small talk? You?” Nico answers.

 

“- Yeah, nevermind, I can’t do that, I have so many questions, some of them are scandalously inappropriate”

 

“- That sounds more like you” Nico says “- Ok, shoot, just skip the most inappropriate ones”

 

“- You’re no fun, alright, how did you find your big girl pants and finally ask Karo out? You were always such a chicken shit about that”

 

“- Whoa, harsh but fair” Nico says “- You’ll actually love this one, so, Karrie and Julie broke up and I was trying to talk Karrie into getting back together with Julie” Nico shakes her head on disbelief of her own, very stupid, very selfish attitude at the time “- I tried to tell Karrie I didn’t deserve her or some shit like that, she was pissed! She even told me to fuck off!”

 

America can’t help but lough loudly “- Oh, man, you’re a moron” She says “- And did she actually say _fuck?_ I just can’t picture Karolina cursing”

 

“- You would be surprised at how foul mouthed that girl is”

 

“- Okay, between you and me” America says leaning slightly towards Nico “- There’s a lot of rumors running around Julie, Karo and you”

 

“- Really?” Nico asks, after the Julie fallout, she didn’t think someone ever gave two shits about it, shows her what she knows, the superhero community is, after all, a big pile of gossip and drama.

 

“- Is it really true that you two had a fight?” America asks.

 

“- Well…”

 

“- Oh my god!” America exclaims “- So it’s true she came all the way from New York to kick your ass!”

 

“- What!? No! Are they saying that?”

 

“- Yeah, word is, you two had a big fucking epic battle, fireballs and lighting and whatnot”

 

“- No! We just called each other names over the PCC” Nico laughs at the notion of actually have to fight Julie Power.

 

“- Oh, yeah, that sounds a lot more like you” America says.

 

“- Okay, America, now I it’s your turn, tell me everything!”

 

-

 

The inside of the bistro is packed, after all, it is popular place, there’s a line to the register where people make their orders, so that gives Kate and Karolina a chance to talk.

 

“- I can see you’re about to burst, Kate, just ask me already” Karolina says smiling kindly at Kate, who really seemed ready to combust.

 

“- Oh, thank god, okay, since when are you two together? How that happened? Who asked who? Why didn’t you tell me before?” Kate asks.

 

Karolina laughs at Kate’s enthusiasm “- Okay, a few months ago, Nico found her nerve and she asked me and I’ve been busy”

 

“- C’mon, Karolina, details!” Kates demands her.

 

“- I was joking” Karolina asks “- We’ve been together for four months but it feels like we’ve been doing this since forever and yet, everything feels new and exciting” Karolina says “- I’m not making any sense, right?”

 

“- No, no, I kind of get you, I guess” Kate says “- And did Nico really made a move? Don’t get me wrong, I know she’s beyond brave, but her record on starting romantic situations it’s not exactly stellar”

 

Karolina can’t help but smile, true, Nico can be a mess, she was a mess when they ended up together, actually, Nico told her once that, if it wasn’t for Karolina’s Job-like patience, Nico would have ended single forever “- Yeah, she almost screw things up royally but it worked out in the end” Karolina fidgets with the hem of her shirt, looking uncomfortable “- Kate, have you er- have you heard about Julie?”

 

“- Just a little, I mean, she and I are not exactly close, and I moved here after all, but- - “- Kate scratches her head trying to find the right words “- We do have mutual friends and, well - -“

 

“- I just wanna know if she’s okay, Kate” Karolina says.

 

“- Far as I know she is fine, she’s been staying with her family a lot”

 

Karolina knows that’s Julie’s way to heal, it’s something they had in common, their propensity to turn to their family when they needed support. Julie is lucky, her family is great, Karolina thinks she will be okay, in time.

 

“- We’re up” Kate says pointing at the register “- Let’s get our order and get back outside”

-

 

Nico catches a glance of Karolina the moment she steps outside of the bistro, it’s like a new super power of hers, she can spot Karolina everywhere and she only needs the corner of her eye to do so. Nico turns and smiles at her girlfriend, patting the seat beside her. Karolina takes the hint and sits, taking Nico’s hand between hers and resting her head on her shoulder. Kate do the same with America, minus the hand grabbing and head resting parts, so hardly the same thing after all.

 

“- They’ll bring our food shortly, what were you talking about” Karolina asks.

 

“- Alright, you two are adorable” America says.

 

“- Thank you” Nico says and kisses Karolina’s temple, that little gesture has become second nature to her, the thing is, it’s not something new, she has realized some time ago that she have always gravitated towards Karolina that way, it actually required a conscious effort to refrain herself to do it, she had to check herself for any sign she might be overstepping, she worried, constantly, if she hold Karrie’s hand for a little too long, or maybe she hugged her tighter than she’s supposed to, and was even worse when it was Karolina who got physical with her. Nico remembers one time when she was doing the dishes and Karolina out of freaking nowhere, came from behind Nico, hugged her and gave her a very chaste kiss on the cheek, something about being grateful for doing some chore Karrie disliked, and Nico had to suppress an ungodly moan. But now, she can be herself, a concept that elates and, sometimes, terrifies her “- America was telling me about their new team”

 

“- Yeah, Kate put together an awesome team, we’re the West Coast Avengers” America says, her voice full of pride, not of herself, but for Kate’s sake.

 

“- That’s great! Congratulations, guys!” Karolina says “- Wait, does that mean you’re our bosses now?”

 

“- Why would that make us your bosses, not that I dislike the idea” Kate asks.

 

“- We joined the Avengers Initiative a while ago, you know, one of those Crisis response Teams” Nico explains.

 

“- Holly shit! Really? The most anti-establishment group of misfits joined the Initiative?” Kate says.

 

“- We really needed the help, we were in kind of a bad place, anyway, the point is, now that you’re Avengers we should report to you I guess” Nico says.

 

“- Oh! no! you wouldn’t have to do that” Kate interjects granting questioning looks from both Karolina and Nico “- I mean, it’s not like we’re official Avengers or something, we just kind of got together and fought bad guys, called ourselves Avengers and nobody has questioned that”

 

“- It also means that we don’t have any kind of official funding or anything, hence, the starving situation” America says while giving Kate a reproachful look.

 

“- So you two haven’t changed a bit, still going head first into trouble” Karolina says, there’s no real bite into her comment.

 

“- Yep, pretty much” Kate says.

 

The conversation gets interrupted when a waiter brings their dishes, placing America’s order in the small table is quite the task but it gets done after only three attempts. It’s late, so everyone is hungry and just dig into their food.

 

The group eats in amicable silence for a few minutes until America breaks it, after finishing her burrito in record time that is “- So, Karo, I’m curious, is Nico any good in bed?”

 

“- America!” Kate admonishes her.

 

“- What? I’m looking for the wellbeing of our friends here” America defends herself

 

Karolina chuckles, she knows America is just teasing Nico, who, by the way, is red as a tomato, and far be the day that Karolina stops teasing her girlfriend in good fun.

 

“- Oh, Nico is an inexperienced but enthusiastic lover, and a very fast learner” Karolina answers.

 

“- Karolina!” Nico exclaims.

 

“- I’m sorry, babe” Karolina says and plants a kiss on Nico’s cheek “- You’re just so fun to tease, besides we’re all friends here, right, guys?”

 

“- Yeah, don’t be such a prude, Nico” America says.

 

Nico just crosses her arms and huffs, she’s not really in a bad mood but she has never handled embarrassment that well “- Yeah, since it’s not you we’re making fun of” She mumbles under her breath.

 

“- But, honest, I have a serious question” America says.

 

“- What it is it?” Karolina replies.

 

“- I’m surprised the Avengers didn’t offer you to take care of the west coast, I mean, you were already here and you have a good team”

 

“- We are not a team” Karolina and Nico answers in unison.

 

“- We’re a family, we really didn’t want to be super heroes” Nico offers as an explanation.

 

“- Fair enough” America says “- I still think you would have been great for the job”

 

Nico smiles at that, it’s weird but the acknowledgement and support of both America and Kate actually mean a lot for her, maybe it’s because they are actual super heroes who have faced impossible odds and their opinion bears a certain weight that Nico respects or maybe she’s just an insecure, validation hungry bitch.

 

The rest of the lunch goes great, Karolina gest to spend some time like normal-ish girl, gossiping around freely, enjoying the company of her girlfriend, it’s nice, especially because for neither of them is an everyday occurrence to just spend time with friends, it’s a crude reminder of the isolation they have put themselves in. Well, sort of, Karolina does have some friends in college, alright maybe just one, Steph, and a few acquaintances here and there; Nico, surprisingly enough, is in good terms with a good deal of people in the super hero community and, if she wanted, could talk with most of them in a daily basis, so yeah, not really in isolation for Nico and Karrie. Still, their life is busy enough without much time for friends.

 

“- We should go, Karrie” Nico says looking at her phone “- We still have to pick up Molls”

 

“- Yeah, America, Kate, this was great, we’ll see you soon right?” Karolina says.

 

“- Of course!” Kate says “- And by the way, you don’t have to invent excuses to go smooshing”

 

“- Yeah, it’s not like we don’t know what you’re up to” America says.

 

“- Yeah, you bet we do” Nico says while hugging Karolina “- Jealous?”

 

“- Yeah, I actually am” America says.

 

Nico hugs goodbye both Kate and America and takes Karrie’s hand, halfway to their car she can still hear America bickering with Kate “- You see that, Bishop? That could be us, that could be us but you’re playing!”

 

Nico can’t help but smile and hope with all her heart that America gets her wish soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first of all, did you guys liked the surprise guests? :)
> 
> This chapter wasn't in the plan and that's why it feels a little put off, I was gonna update last wednesday but I caught up with West Coast Avengers, and man! I love that silly comic, it's pure comedy and insanity and it's great and it has Kate Bishop in it and I love her and I HAD to write something with her I really got the urge and I thought that putting an intermission further down the main story would be kind of a dick move. Seriously, I love Kate, and since is established that she and Karolina are friends, well, I took a little liberty with it, and c'mon, they're all based in L.A. a crossover was inevitable, sorry if this chapter seems hasted, it kind of was I put it together in like three days.
> 
> So, take this as a little rest, the next chapter will be up very soon since it's practically done already.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it!


	3. Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is probably not what you're thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talking about a long absence, tight?
> 
> I'm so sorry, I got caught up in the holidays and I took a long vacation, like really long, it was great but I didn't do much writing. 
> 
> How were your holidays? I really wish it was a good time for all of you.

It is almost a law of nature that the weather of any important date in your life would not match it’s significance, for example, if it is the anniversary of the day you got together with the love of your life, that precise day would be rainy as fuck, or maybe it’s unseasonably cold, or perhaps on the day marking your first paycheck there’s a big ass fire raging a few blocks from you sending thick acrid smoke your way. 

Today is beautiful day, sunny, with a light refreshing breeze, it invites people to go outdoors and go the beach or the park or taking a hike, a good day to spend with your loved ones or in quiet solitude. Nico Minoru hates this day in particular and no amount of sunshine is going to ever change that.

“- It’s freaking hot” Nico says for the hundredth time.

“- Mhm” Is the only response Chase gives her anymore.

“- Is it far? Nico asks.

“- No, just past those threes” Chase says.

Nico woke up in a foul mood, the only thing making her morning tolerable was waking up in Karrie’s arms, but even that didn’t last because Karolina had to go to class. She dragged her bad mood all the way to the kitchen ready to pack Molly’s lunch only to find out Karolina did it already and even offered to take Molly to school.

Gert and Victor asked Karolina to take them downtown arguing they needed to run some errands. That would have given Nico the liberty to go back to bed and sulk all day, and she would have done so if it weren’t for Chase. That big doofus knocked on Nico’s door around midday and when he didn’t get a response he just burst into the room. 

“- There’s something we need to do” Chase said when he saw Nico holed up in her blankets.

“- No” Nico didn’t want to do anything, she just wanted to not be conscious and let the day slip past her.

“- Just something to let it out of our chests” Chase insists.

Nico’s old habits threatened to resurface, for a second, she wanted to yell at him, tell him to fuck off and recede further into her self pity and blanket cocoon.

“- What is it?” Nico asks. She has changed after all, maybe even matured.

“- Just come with me, please, if it’s not enough we can always go and break things later or get drunk or whatever ”

The pleading look on Chase face made Nico get up, she donned some sweatpants and a t-shirt, no way she would dress up, and followed him out of the Hostel. Chase insisted to take his van and drove them to a secluded part of the park the Hostel is located, once they reached it Chase told her they would need to walk a little.

That’s where she is now, under the scorching sun following chase to do God knows what. Finally, they reach a small clearing near a hill overlooking a strip of the highway. Chase sits under the shade of a three and unpacks a bottle of the horrible bourbon he used to drink.

Nico doesn’t’ like where this is going, Chase has been sober for months now, the only thing that worries Nico about him is his workaholic attitude (still not healthy but at least it’s not regular alcoholism)

Chase opens the bottle and takes a small sip without making a face, then he extends the bottle to Nico “- I fucking hate this day” He says.

Nico is unsure what to do, on one hand it’s clear Chas wants to talk about “it” which is the last thing Nico wants, but if she doesn’t partake in whatever this is, chances are poor Chase is going to get hammered, alone, away from home. Nico opts for the lesser of two evils. She sits beside Chase and takes the bottle, taking a sip and, unlike Chase, almost coughing a lung out, that thing is vile.

“- Where were you on the first anniversary?” Chase asks after a few minutes of really uncomfortable silence.

“- I don’t know, somewhere, I didn’t really register it” Nico answers.

“- Me neither, I only found out watching the news in a dinner a couple days later, got myself blackout drunk after that” Chase gives her a sad smile and takes another sip.

“- Easy with that shit, you have to drive us back home” Nico says taking the bottle out of his hands.

“- Have you heard from any of the other guys?” Chase asks again, at the very least he’s not trying to grab the bourbon back.

“- Only a little, Elsa told me Cullen is fine, he’s helping her in whatever is they do, Laura is okay, for what I know, Hazmat is hiding still but overall fine, other than that I haven’t heard from anybody else”

“- Right” Chase takes the bottle again, trying to get another swig of it, but Nico takes it out of his hands.

“- Okay, you want some more of this? You’re gonna tell me what this is all about” Nico says. She expected Chase to put more of a fight, instead he slouches further. He looks like complete shit.

“- I didn’t want to spend the day alone” Is all Chase says.

How can Nico blame him? This is the anniversary of the worst day in their lives, theirs and of other unlucky sixteen kids who were turned into tools for the ego of a homicidal maniac. Murderworld, few places in the world are named more aptly. Even thinking of the place make Nico nauseated. Sixteen kids, six of them died there. Well, seven.

“- It’s stupid, you know? Remembering today as the anniversary” Chase says.

“- Yeah” Nico drinks again and hands him the bottle back and watches as Chase takes a small gulp.

“- I mean, not even we know exactly how much time we spent there!” Chase exclaims.

It’s true, part of the dread every survivor of Murderwolrd has is, in no small part, because they don’t know exactly when and how that nightmare began. Nobody knows for sure. They had no clocks and Arcade manipulated the very light of the sun that place, so who knows how many time passed. At some point Nico thought they were almost two weeks in there, but according to Hank Pym they were missing for five days, while Molly swore Nico and Chase weren’t themselves for almost a month. That’s other horrible thing Arcade did, he used life model decoys, very advanced robots indistinguishable from human beings, to convince their friends that Nico and Chase went away on their own volition. Maybe Nico was kidnapped long before Arcade’s sick game began or maybe just a couple of days, trying to figure the exact day that she was trapped is useless. The anniversary of the so called “Murderworld battle royale” is only marked for the day the survivors were found.

“- Have you ever talked about it with someone?” It’s a horrible question, one whose answer is obvious, but some dark part of Nico compels her to ask it.

“- No” Chase answers dryly.

“- Not even…” Nico doesn’t finish that question.

“- I don’t have anyone, Minoru”

Nico hates the look Chase gives her, it’s not hostile, not towards her but still feels accusatory, resentful even “- Chase, you do have someone—” 

“- No, don’t give that shit about Gert, okay?” 

“- I wasn’t” Nico says “- Actually I wanted to apologize”

“- About what?” Chase retorts angrily and takes another swig from the bottle

“- I should—I should have talked to you or something” Nico avoids Chase gaze “- I mean it, you are not alone, I was there too, we were supposed to have each other backs, and I didn’t, I ran away, I’m sorry”

“- Shit, Nico” Chase says looking down.

Nico extends a hand trying to comfort him but Chase swats her away, in other circumstances she would be offended or angry but one look at his face and all Nico feels is concern, Chase is on the verge of tears. “- Why the fuck you keep talking to me?!” 

“- What?”

“- After I—you know—I don’t know why you don’t hate me” Chase says.

“- Chase, I—”

“- I fucking cut your arm! I threw you down a cliff! You could have died!”

And that’s the secret that Nico will take to her grave. Nobody knows exactly what happened to her, that she, for a moment, was deceased, leaving behind only a cold dead body; the Murderworld footage Arcade released didn’t show that, Nico knows it, it might seem fucked up (it is seriously fucked up) but she did watch the whole thing, she forced herself to do it, just once, just to know the full extent of the damaged done to her life. How could she explain something like that to her family? To Chase? He’s clearly affected by how he hurt her. How could she talk about it with Karrie? Nico would never expose them to something like that.

“- But I didn’t, Chase” Nico says “- We got out of there”

“- Did I? Because I still have flashbacks, sometimes I feel like I’m gonna wake up and I’m gonna still be in there and I’ll still gonna hurt you somehow --” Chase gets cut short when Nico hugs him “- I’m so sorry, Nico”

“- Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault” Nico says.

They keep hugging for a little while, at some point Chase just breaks and starts tearing up and Nico holds him even tighter, she isn’t sure if this is something good or not, but she thinks maybe it’s what Chase needs after all, just a way to vent his repressed feelings. Perhaps she can learn something from him.

“- I lied” Nico says after a while.

“- About what?” Chase breaks the hug and rubs the tears off his eyes.

“- I do know where I was on the first anniversary”

To his credit, Chase doesn’t push he just wait to see if Nico would continue, after a couple of minutes in silence she does.

“- I was in my apartment, took a lot of klonopin until I passed out” Nico says dryly.

“- God, Nico, were you trying to…” Chase trails off

“- Kill myself? No” Nico answers and even chuckles a bit, the notion that she seeks her own death is absurd, she knows what dying is like so, no, maybe Nico Minoru it’s not the most self preserving being in the world, but suicide is simply not an option “- I just didn’t want to suffer that day, and before you ask, that klonopin was perfectly legal, I had a prescription for it, it helped with the panic attacks”

“- I’m sorry, Nico” 

“- Stop apologizing, you’ve done nothing wrong” Nico says offering him a tissue “- It was that bitch Apex, she didn’t even have the guts to fight me herself”

Silence falls over them again, Nico hugs her legs and concentrates on calm herself, she’s about to suggest going back home.

“- They’re all dead, you know?” 

“- Who?” Nico asks.

“- The ones who attacked you, you know, the ones who…” Chase points to Nico’s arm.

“- Oh, yeah, I know, Deathlocket killed her” 

“- Deathlocketh is dead too” Chase says.

“- What? How do you know?”

Chase shrugs and takes a gulp of the bottle “- I talked to Laura recently, she told me, she was on a mission with the X-Men some months ago, something about shutting down a rogue cloning laboratory and whatnot, Deathlocket was there, Laura herself killed her”

“- Holly shit!”

“- Yeah”

Another stretch of silence settles over them. Nico is getting tired and thinks is better to call it a day.  
“- Chase?” Nico says without looking at him, she just keeps staring at the highway.

“- Yeah?”

“- Arcade is dead” 

“- How—” Chase begins to ask but Nico cuts him short.

“- I read a report from the Avengers a week ago, his body was found just outside of Bagalia, a forensic team confirmed that it was the real Arcade”

“- Huh” Chase says “- Who do you think did it?”

“- Zemo, most likely” Nico answers “- Who cares anyway?”

“- I guess that’s it then” Chase says.

“- Yeah”

“- I thought I would feel better”

“- Yeah” Nico hates to admit it, but Chase is right, she thought it would feel better, for a long time she expected that the death of those responsible for the horrible things that happened to her and all of the Murderworld survivors would bring some sense of closure, if not peace, but it hasn’t. It’s not like she thinks Arcade being dead is a bad thing, nothing further from the truth, good riddance, but what about her? How Arcade being dead helps? It doesn’t give her back the years she basically wasted doing nothing after finding out she’s no hero material? Hell, what about Deathlocket? Fucking Arcade twisted her life and then she ran to whatever group of people accepted her, and now the poor girl is dead.

“- Well, this suck” Chase says and spills the remaining content of the bottle.

“- Are you talking about the situation in general or just the bourbon?” Nico asks him playfully.

“- I haven’t decided”

Even Nico chuckles at that “- Let’s go home, Chase”

The trip back to the Hostel is awkward at best, maybe Chase was in a mood to keep talking about Murder world with Nico, but she shuts her eyes the minute she climbs in the van and feigns a restful sleep.

“- I’m sorry” Chase says “- I know you’re awake by the way”

Fuck.

“- What are you sorry about this time” Nico gives up and opens her eyes and straights her back popping it loudly in the process, playing possum takes a toll on the body after all.

“- For making you do this, it was stupid” 

“- It’s alright” Nico says.

“- I really thought this would help”

“- Well, you were right, Chase, this suck, and honestly? I don’t think it will stop sucking for a long while”

They reach the Hostel midafternoon, Nico steps out of the van without any ceremony, hurrying herself in an attempt to go to her room as soon as possible and return to her blanket cocoon. She sees Gert, Victor and Molly in the living room and she’s about to pass them with a some polite greeting and a smile, when a voice coming from the kitchen stops her.

“- Hi, babe” Karolina calls her.

Nico turns to her girlfriend with a surprised look on her face “- Karrie!” Despite wanting to go straight to her room, Nico finds herself practically hoping to meet Karolina “- You’re home early” Nico says and plants a kiss on Karrie’s lips.

“- Yeah, last class got cancelled, I thought we could use some time together” Karolina says.

Nico beams at the suggestive tone in Karolina’s words and she smiles even brighter when she hears Karrie made dinner. She didn’t realize how hungry she was. She throws a glance towards the living room, watching Chase doing the very same I want to be alone move she was, she knows him well, he would just say greet everybody and excuse himself under the excuse to work on some project. She was about to offer him some food before the poor man could recluse himself in his room when Molly catches up to him.

“- Hey, Chase” Molly says “- Can you help me with homework?”

“- Uhmm” Chase hesitates.

“- Please, Gert doesn’t want anything to do with math and Victor keeps spurting the answers”

“- I have a supercomputer for a brain, Molls, I can’t help it” Victor says.

“- Alright, just let me get some stuff from my room” Chase says.

“- We eat before homework” Karolina announces and takes a large bowl to the table “- Nico, could you set the table, please?”

“-Sure” Nico grabs plates and silverware and asks Chase some help getting the glasses, especially because, since Karolina spends a lot more time in the Hostel, she stacks the glasses in the highest counter and well, Nico is not on the tall side of things.

“- You made sukiyaki?” Nico asks Karolina after serving Molly and Gert.

“- Yeah, and don’t worry I made some vegan for myself, this is traditional, homemade sukiyaki, I know it’s your favorite” Karolina nudges at Nico.

“- You’re the best” Nico says kissing Karrie’s cheek.

“- I kind of am” Karolina says playfully.

Nico seats at the table and takes a spoonful, she’s almost down to tears “- Karrie! This is amazing, it’s just like how my grandma Judy used to make it”

“- I took the recipe from an old cook book, I’m glad you liked it”

“- Hey, guys” Nico says after a while “- You want to do something later?”

“- You want to get out?” Karolina asks her.

“- Yeah, I’ve been holed up for too long in this hose, Karrie and I will do the dishes, Chase helps Molly with homework and after we go somewhere”

“- Well, I need somethings for a project I’m working, can we go to the mall?” Chase asks.

“- Yeah! Let’s take Old Lace and Rufus too, there’s a park nearby” Molly interjects.

“- Oooh, I know, let’s get ice cream too, my treat--” Karolina says granting her suspicions looks from everyone at the table. “- The non vegan kind for all of you, of course.

“- It’s a date” Nico says. Perhaps, the day would end up being not so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, you guys liked it?
> 
> This is something I wanted to write for a long time, it's something that hasn't been addressed much in the comics, I always wondered how Nico and Chase deal with the trauma on a daily basis, sorry if it's kind of grim, hopefully the ending is sweet enough to wash away some of the bitterness.
> 
> It's also a good opportunity to kind of celebrate new year, look, I know 2018 was a dumpster fire, and the world is horrible right now, but, much like with Nico and Chase in this chapter, there's still some good things, maybe friends, maybe family, maybe a pet, whatever it is, there are things that are still worth it. These times can be difficult for many people, please know that you're not alone and, if there's nothing else, at least you can celebrate that you made it for another year. I love you all.
> 
> A few extra notes, the Laura Nico and Chase mention is Laura Kiney, aka X-23 aka wolverine, and I know she doesn't kill anymore, I consider Deathlocket one of the last times she had to kill and maybe one of the main reasons she stopped.
> 
> Cullen and Elsa are the Bloodstone siblings, they hunt monsters or something like that, Elsa is good friends with Nico in canon and I wanted to use that.
> 
> The Jennifer Nico mentions is Jennifer Takeda, Hazmat, I don't know if she has resurfaced, but I remember she going into hiding, hence the brief reference in this chapter.
> 
> Regarding Nico I wanted two things, one, addressing Nico's use of klonopin (clonazepam) a drug used to treat panic attacks (it broke my heart in issue 15) after her traumma in Murderwolrd and that it was she who suggested, at the very end, just going out, not only of the Hostel, but of her own mental space, showing a little growth on how she deals with stuff. 
> 
> So, that's it, I'll be back to regular schedule soon so I think I'll be able to update faster this time.


	4. Know your enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is looking for the Runaways? Why? Does Ii means they are in danger?
> 
> Turns out that to find out, the Runaways may have to be reunited, all of them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time!
> 
> Fair warning... there's cute stuff, and there's smut... so... enjoy!

The best part of Karolina Dean’s week is coming back home. Even the simple fact of call somewhere home is enough to lift her spirits. Of course, it’s not like she didn’t have a roof over her head before, and it’s not the place itself what she calls home, it’s the people who live there who make all the difference. In the Hostel live the people Karolina care the most in the world.

Granted, the Hostel wouldn’t have been her first choice to settle in, it’s too far away from school and it’s hard to get there, it only have a dirt road and it’s actually in a public park, oh, and it’s not exactly legal to stay there since it’s just a derelict mansion buried underground, also Karolina still think it’s not safe and some rooms have a weird smell that she can’t quite place (nor doesn’t really want to) and, if it wasn’t for Old Lace and Rufus, she swears the place would be infested with all kind of vermin. 

Karolina can’t wait to get to the Hostel.

Life has changed dramatically for Karolina in the past months, there were days, more than she will ever admit, in which she didn’t have anything to do, sometimes her classes were over and she finished her homework and projects and she ended up doing nothing else, her friends (or Steph, her only friend at the time) were busy, Julie, her now ex girlfriend, was thousands of miles away and turns out you can only clean your room so many times; more than once she just laid down in bed and kept staring at the ceiling. 

Oh! how life has changed. Now, Karolina always has something to do, with barely a moment to spare, and it can be difficult, making time for herself, for her family, her school, being a low grade-decaffeinated super hero. It sounds overwhelming, but she wouldn’t change any of it.

Karolina arrives at the Hostel and retrieves a couple of bags from the trunk of her car, she plans to do something nice for her family, she wants to cook a special diner for all of them since, in the las couple of weeks, all of the Runaways lives have been hectic.

She enters the living room, expecting it to be empty and stops dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.

“- Oh, Hi babe! You’re early” Nico waves Karolina and puts down a book she was reading.

“- Nico, are you wearing--?” Karolina says pointing at Nico’s clothes

“- Yeah, I know they’re yours, I ran out of clothes and I’m doing laundry, hope you don’t mind” Nico says sheeply

Karolina does not mind at all, she recognizes at once the clothes Nico is wearing, an old yellow blouse she bought a couple of years ago, after running away for the first time, she still wears it since it makes for a cute crop top; and a denim overall that she was about to give away but kept it because she thought Molly would need bigger clothes soon but apparently it fits Nico just fine.

Seeing Nico like this melts Karolina’s heart, the image before her fills her with an overwhelming desire to wrap her arms around her girlfriend and never let go. Karolina was perfectly aware of the dreadful day of the day Nico (and Chase) had to endure a couple of weeks ago, the two year anniversary of the so called Murderwolrd battle royale. Obviously, Karolina hates everything about that, she didn’t know what to expect as that horrible day approached, but as the day got closer it was evident Nico wouldn’t want to talk about It. So, Karolina went out of her way in order to give Nico some space, she even convinced the rest of the guys to busy themselves, so Nico could have the house to her own.

In truth, that day wasn’t that bad, Nico was just a little more taciturn than she used to, and, as the days passed, she regained her almost normal self. Still, those days reminded Karolina of something she would likely be happy to forget: There are people in the world that had hurt Nico willingly.

And seeing Nico sitting on her legs, curled up in the sofa, calmly reading a book, wearing her glasses (she must have misplaced her contacts) doing something as mundane as waiting for her laundry to be done… how anyone in this world would ever wanted to harm Nico on purpose? 

“- You’re a perfect angel and I love you so much!” Karolina says and rushes to Nico capturing her lips in a heated kiss. 

Given Nico’s surprised reaction, she expected a far more chaste kiss, but Karolina does nothing of the sort, she go for a full blown kiss, wanting to convey the undying love she has for her girlfriend.

After a long while, Nico breaks the kiss, surely because of lack of air in her lungs “- Wow, I should wear your clothes more often” She says.

“- Yeah, you do that” Karolina looks hungrily at Nico and moves closer kissing her again, neck, collarbone, jaw, everywhere is fair game.

“- Karrie, baby” Nico interrupts her briefly “- Not that I mind, but what’s this about? Are you really that turned on because I’m wearing your clothes?”

“- I’ve missed you” Karolina answers.

“- We literally woke up together this morning” 

“- I’ve missed you, I can’t get enough of you” Karolina reassumes her attack on Nico’s neck, biting it agonizingly slow and sweet “- I want you with me, I want you in me” 

Finally, Nico gets the idea, she starts undressing, pulling the straps of her overall. Karolina doesn’t have the same patience, she forcefully unclasps the first strap when Nico stops her “- Babe, I love this, but let’s not shred your clothes apart, I don’t want to owe you my salary of the month” 

“- Let’s take this to our room” Karolina says still kissing Nico.

“- You’ll have to stop pinning to the sofa then”

Karolina basically growls at that, a sound that make Nico’s insides quiver, and forces herself to stand taking Nico’s hand with hers “- Fine, at least we won’t have any more interruptions” Karolina says.

Karolina rushes Nico to their bedroom, in the back of her mind, behind the sheer lust and urgency of the moment, she’s still elated for having a room together with Nico, she knows she’s the luckiest woman in the world. 

When they reach their room, Karolina slams the door shut and throws Nico over the bed “- Now, no more interruptions” She says.

Nico doesn’t respond, she just scoots herself to the bed head and extends her arms at Karolina.

Karolina on her part doesn’t hesitate she goes straight to Nico’s arms and kisses her passionately, her hands found the clasp of the remaining strap of the overall and unclasps it, she then peels it off of Nico in a few swift motions, she stops with a wicked smile when it’s at Nico’s ankles.

As much as Karolina wants this and despite the rush she’s in, she can’t help but take a moment to laugh “- Did you ran out of under ware too?”

“- Don’t tease me!” Nico says “- I did tell you I needed to do laundry”

Karolina takes a moment to compose herself and helps Nico out of her clothes, taking a little more time in the process, one of her favorite things to do in the world is undressing her girlfriend.

“- You’re still wearing too many clothes, Karrie” Nico says.

“- Then do something about it”

Nico does, she kneels in front of Karolina and plants a kiss on her lips, then, she takes her sweet time taking off, one by one, the offending clothes on her girlfriend’s body. 

“- Ugh, you’re taking way too long” Karrie says when she’s in just her underwear and bra, she takes them both off quickly and throws them on the floor without any ceremony.

“- God, Karrie” Nico says “- I’m loving this bossy part of you”

Karolina grabs Nico by the hips and position herself between her thighs, her demeanor still shows dominance but her gaze softens for a moment “- You’ll tell me if you feel uncomfortable, right?” Ever the amazing girlfriend, she always takes Nico’s well being and enjoyment in consideration.

“- Of course, but just so you know, I trust you completely” Nico says “- Now, come here and kiss me”

Karolina does, and now that there are no layers of clothes between them she can finally have Nico all for herself.

Karolina presses her body against Nico, she can feel how her girlfriend shudders, just a little tremble everytime that happens Karolina’s skin comes in contact with Nico’s, it’s an involuntary response that Karolina absolutely loves.

She slides a finger just barely inside Nico, a tentative touch intended more to tease than to anything else.

“- Oh God, Karrie—” Nico breaths, she spreads her legs further and hooks one ankle on Karolina’s thigh, silently begging for closeness.

“- I love you so much, and you’re all mine” Karolina slides another finger inside Nico, she feels that delicious shudder once again, Karolina can do this all day.

“- All yours—” Is all what Nico manages to say.

Karolina starts thrusting her fingers using her thumb to gently press on Nico’s clit, she leans down to kiss on Nico’s neck.

“- God, Karrie, fuck…” Nico breathes frantically.

Karolina relishes on the fact that she can make Nico come undone like this, she really does, but today she will not let her girlfriend go this fast, she stops altogether and removes her fingers from inside Nico at the same time.

“- No! Karrie—” Nico whimpers and grabs Karolina’s wrist trying to guide her hand back inside her “- What are you doing?”

“- Teasing you” Karolina smiles “- Lay on your stomach”

Karolina’s command leaves no room for doubt, Nico gets it, so she complies, she turns and lays on her stomach, she turns her head slightly “- What are you gonna do?” Nico asks.

Instead of replying, Karolina positions herself at Nico’s hips and uses her knee so spread Nico’s legs a little further. She leans down propping on one elbow reaching for her girlfriend’s face “- Make you cum” She then gives Nico a playful kiss on her cheek.  
She can see Nico brazing herself for whatever is coming, good, Karolina thinks. Without any warning she inserts her fingers again inside Nico hooking them slightly, working Nico’s clit with her thumb and plants a series of hot, wet kisses all over her back. In no time Karolina Has Nico panting frantically.

“- Karrie—” Nico plants her face on the mattress suppressing an ungodly moan. She throws an arm backwards trying to get a hold on Karrie, desperate to find something to ground her.

Karolina grabs Nico’s arm and forces it back on the bed and, pressing her body against her girlfriend’s, leaving their faces inches apart. Nico bucks her hips a little higher on the air, Karolina takes it as a plea to continue.

“- I love you—” Nico gasps.

“- Say it again” Karolina commands.

“- I love you, Karrie” Nico says.

Karolina speeds up her rhythm, making Nico shake “- Louder” Karolina commands again.

“- I fucking love you, Karrie!” Nico can’t say anything else, Karolina’s fingers brush on that exact spot that drives Nico wild. 

The image before Karolina is one of her favorites, Nico in all her glorious beauty, shaking with pleasure, mouth gaping, her breath coming in gasps; Karolina helps Nico through her orgasm, slowing the pace and letting her girlfriend relax.

Finally, Karolina takes her fingers out of Nico and let her turn around, her girlfriend slumps over the bed exhausted and with the brightest of smiles.

Karolina brings a finger to her mouth, licking it clean, a gesture that she knows, drives Nico insane, and once again, it works, Nico kneels before her and takes her hand, licking her other ginger.

“- Alright” Nico says, kissing Karrie’s finger “- You had your fun, now it’s my turn” Nico pushes Karolina down and hops out of the bed.

“- What--?” Karolina asks. Instead of getting an answer Nico grabs Karolina’s legs and helps her position on the edge of the bed. “- Oh” Now she gets the idea.

Nico settles with her knees on the floor closing the distance between them. She rests her chin on Karolina’s pubis “. My God, you’re beautiful” Nico says.

“- Babe—” Karolina begins but she gets cut short when Nico plants a sweet kiss on her thigh.

“- Relax” Nico says “- I got you” She hooks her arms around Karolina’s hips using her hands to art her legs a little wider. She sticks her tongue out, teasingly probing between Karrie’s legs.

It comes as no surprise at all to Karolina that she’s completely worked up, she feels herself getting wetter by the second, she’s so, so close and Nico has barely touched her; which is a problem since Nico has actually barely touched her, the teasing and all the buildup has become unbearable.

“- Nico, please—” Karolina says

“- Don’t worry, I’m not gonna let you hanging. 

True to her word, Nico kisses Karolina’s thigh, one las teasing gesture intended to make Karolina shake, only then she go for broke.

In a matter of minutes Karolina is gasping for air, mouth parted, eyes wide shut, she tangles her fingers in Nico’s hair, pleading her to continue “- Fucking shit! Nico!”

It took a while, but Karolina has come to know, and love, many of Nico’s little buttons, she knows swearing is huge turn on for her girlfriend and, even when she’s not particularly foul mouthed (but she does swear, she’s a normal lesbian alien girl after all) she manages to indulge Nico’s tastes.

Getting to know Nico, like, really knowing her, has been quite a ride for Karolina, for both of them actually, they are far from perfect, and it’s one thing to be hopelessly in love with your best friend for years (who is she kidding? Karrie never stopped loving Nico even when she was away) and another one entirely to be in a relationship with her, her quirks and mannerisms, her passions and insecurities, it may have been complicated but Karolina relishes on the opportunity of discovering Nico with every day that passes.

A loud moan and a wave of pleasure bring Karolina back from her musings, the feeling of Nico’s nimble fingers inside of her and her hot wet tongue over her clit are making the pressure in her lower abdomen build quickly, she’s grateful for this, there is no way she can drag this any longer. 

“- Wait” Nico says, Karolina almost screams when she stops momentarily “- Sit on my face”

And then there’s stuff like this, Karolina hit the jackpot with her girlfriend.

Karolina let’s herself being drag to the floor by Nico, she takes special care to position her pelvis at the right angle. What was a building, steady pressure it has become a breaking point, she needs release, and her mind can only focus on one concept: quick.

“- Oh my fucking God…” Karolina breathes. It doesn’t take that much longer, Nico has come to know her all too well, she knows what she likes, Karolina is putty in Nico’s hands.

Karolina’s orgasm ended up being more like a vault, one second she’s gasping and the next her whole body tenses in ecstasy. After what it feels like an eternity and at the same time just a fleeting moment, Nico pats her thigh, Karolina gets the message and she stands up, her legs are wobbly and nearly trips, but she manages to flop in the bed.

Nico joins her after a few moments, Karolina never lets an opportunity of cuddling pass.

“- Karrie?” Nico says.

“- Yeah?”

“- I still have to take out my laundry”

Karolina laughs and kisses her girlfriend’s forehead.

\--

What is the best part about sleeping with Karolina Dean? Nico can’t decide, she loves all of it. Going to sleep wrap around her girlfriend’s arms is the best feeling in the world, well, one of many feelings that, coincidentally, involve Karolina, the point is, she sleeps like a freaking baby ever since their first night together.

Granted, there were a couple of things than needed a little adjustment period. First, Karolina is hot, in more ways than one, being a solar powered alien, her body temperature tends to be a little higher than normal, alright, sometimes is a fuck ton higher than normal. If they lived in some cold place that would be a blessing and Nico would always be stuck at Karrie’s side, but of course, they live in LA, where warm nights are the norm; through sheer force of will Nico managed to stay glued to Karolina the first few weeks despite waking up all sweaty and sticky until she got used to it.

There is also the fact that Karolina glows, and trying to sleep with a constant source of light can be hard for Nico sometimes, she was never going to suggest Karrie to use her suppressor bracelet, she considered other options, like buying a thick sleep mask, but in the end that wasn’t necessary either, she adjusted just fine after a while.

So, you can imagine how content Nico is right now, napping in the middle of the day cuddled up with Karrie, completely naked after a morning of amazing sex, her head resting on Karrie’s chest lulled by that steady heartbeat she has come to know and love idly playing with her hair. Nico prays that this heaven is what awaits her after she dies.

“- I love you” Nico clutches closer to Karolina.

Karolina presses a kiss on Nico’s head and hugs her back “- I love you too”

“- I never want this to end” 

Karolina chuckles.

“- I mean it, Karrie” Nico props on her elbow so she can see Karolina to her eyes “- I want to spend the rest of my life with you”

“- Good” Karolina smiles and takes Nico’s face between her hands “- Because you’re stuck with me”

Nico leans in and kisses Karolina again, the she settles again in crook of her neck and sighs happily. They still have a couple of hours until some of the other guys come home, so Nico can stretch this out and be snugly lazy in bed, her laundry be damned… until someone buzzes at their door.

“- Ugh” Nico grunts and curls further into Karrie.

At the second buzz Karolina stirs up “- Someone’s at the door” She says groggily.

“- Mmmph, must be one of the guys, they all have keycards” Nico answers.

Another buzz.

“- Maybe Molly forgot hers, wouldn’t be the first time” Karolina says.

“- Fine, I’ll go see” Nico says and gets up, she puts a pair of sweat pants that needed to be washed two days ago and an oversized t shirt that belongs to Chase, it’s not much, but it’s clean. She makes her way down stair barefooted and stops at the monitors that show the feed of the Hostel CCTV expecting to see Molly or maybe Gert.

“- The fuck?” Nico mutters to herself.

On the other side of the door is Alex Wilder. He buzzes again.

Before anything else happens, Nico hurries back to her room. “- Karrie! Alex it’s at the door”

“- Okay” Karolina answers rubbing the sleep off her eyes.

“- Well?” Nico asks.

“- Well what?” Karolina says.

“- What the hell does he want?”

“- I don’t know, go ask him”

“- No! Fuck him”

“- Nico…”

The buzzers sound again, more insistently this time.

“- What if he’s here to hurt us?” Nico asks again.

“- He wouldn’t be buzzing then” Karolina answers “- And you’re a wizard and I’m an alien that can zap him like a bug, c’mon” She adds for good measure.

“- Okay, okay, I’ll ask him”

Nico goes back downstairs to the monitors where she can see Alex is still waiting at the door. Nico is not that stupid, she would never just let him enter, she uses the intercom instead.

“- What do you want?” She says to the microphone in front of her.

“- Nico? Is that you?” Alex asks from outside.

“- What do you want? “Nico repeats.

“- Nico, please I need to talk to you” Alex says.

“- We are talking right now, what do you want?” Nico starts to lose patience.

“- Can I come in please? This is important” Alex pleads.

“- No” 

“- C’mon, Nico, it’s about the guy looking for us”

Nico hates the way Alex says Us, it feels wrong in every way, she’s about to tell him to speak or fuck off when a calming hand grasps her shoulder. 

“- It would only be a few minutes” Karolina says from behind her. Karrie dressed again in a simple shirt and shorts, Nico thanks silently for her support.

“- Fine” Nico sighs “- You’re way too polite for your own good, babe”

Nico goes to the entrance and pushes a button, an alarm indicates that the blast door is open, she stands in the hallway waiting for Alex. 

“- Hi, Nico” Alex says as soon as he sees her.

“- We’re in the living room” Is all Nico says before turning on her heels and heading towards the sofa where Karolina is already seated.

“-Oh” Alex says “- I didn’t know you guys… I… I think I’m interrupting something” 

For anyone with a single working neuron it’s clear Nico and Karolina were in the middle of… something, their hair disheveled, Karolina’s lipstick smudged, Nico with faint lipstick marks all over her neck and collarbone, wearing ill fitting clothes (Nico put her shirt backwards for God’s sake!) “- Yeah, you are” Nico says “- So, what is this about?”

“- Well, uhm, I’ve been working this out, putting data together” Alex says, he retrieves a tablet from his backpack and hands it to Nico but it’s Karolina who takes it “- Three weeks ago one of my contacts informed me that someone in a red Iron Man looking armor appeared in LA, that is bad enough in itself”

“- Alright” Karolina says. Nico keeps staring at him with her arms crossed.

“- I asked around and found all the places he’s been visiting” Alex says pointing at the tablet “- La Brea tar pits, Malibu Beach, Trancas Canyon, Hollywood Hills, a couple of soup kitchens downtown from the Dean foundation, read the whole list, notice anything about them?”

“- That’s my old address” Karolina says.

“- Yeah, and this one is mine, Gert, Chase and Molly’s are there too” Alex continues “- Although I don’t know about the Trancas Canyon one, but—”

“- My parents old summer house” Nico interjects “These are all Pride places”

“- Yes” Alex nods “- Whoever this person is they’re looking for us in locations known to be connected to the Pride”

“- What are you implying, Alex?” Nico asks.

“- Look, connect the dots” Alex begins, Nico hates he can’t give a simple answer “- Some metahuman or in possession of meta human equipment arrived a few months ago, just days after Chase brought Gert back, right?”

“- Right” Karolina answers.

“- Chase brought her back using the time portico, Pride technology, a kind of technology that nobody else in this era has, and then this guy goes around the country appearing in Pride hideouts and known whereabouts, not ours, not Runaways hideouts, Pride’s” Alex says.

“- Shit” Nico’s chest tightens, half an hour earlier she was having such a great day “- We’re not their targets, they are looking for the Pride.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright!
> 
> Finally I'm begining to tie loose ends and I'm officially moving to the last chapters of the fic where things are gonna be resolved and mysteries are gonna be cleared.
> 
> In this chapter I wanted to show the kind of girlfriend I think Karolina would be, very supporting, but wise enough to know when to give space, I also wnated to remark that she knew well about murderworld an she help Nico, in anyway she could, to deal with it. I think Karolina is that awesome.
> 
> Regarding the smut part in this chapter, I'm sorry if it feels kind of like it repeats itself from other chapters, it actually was intentional, I wanted to make it kind of like a throwback to Karrie and Nico's first time, just to emphasize that they have grown and known each other really well since then, it's a prt of their relationship that I wanted to be adressed.
> 
> By the way, Nico's clothes in this chapter are based on a beautiful drawing of Kevin Wada, look it up, in that piece Nico looks so soft and cute I knew I had to write something about it.
> 
> Anyway, just a couple more chapters and we're done! 
> 
> Thank you all for reading.


	5. Separation anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's big changes coming for the Runaways... not everyone deals well with change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there!
> 
> Sorry for the delay, work has been kicking my ass. But don't you worry, this fic is almost done.
> 
> This chapter is the setup for the big, action packed, tense as shit, heartbreaking, uplifting, overall badass finale! So of course there's a lot of cutesy stuff :D

The Runaways relationship with people in the super hero community is kind of a mixed bag, most of the time, people don’t really remember them or even know who they are, which suited them just fine, but every once in a while some hero here or there might remember Nico for her time with A Force, she used to loath those times because when it all ended she wasn’t in the best terms with her ex team, or rather, with some members of her ex team… all right, it was just that she couldn’t stand Carol Danvers for the life of her.

 

How much things have changed.

 

Nico is seated in front of her portable control center (well, it’s not hers, it’s communal property for the Runaways but whatever) eagerly waiting for Captain Marvel to answer her call. Yes, she’s eager to talk to Carol, something that months ago she wouldn’t have never considered a possibility.

 

After a minute or two the screen finally shows Captain Marvel whereabouts, it appears she has moved again after the visiting her mom,  the video feed shows an apartment that Nico doesn’t recognize it certainly doesn't look like a place Carol Danvers lives in, the place looks, well, messy, a big no in Carol’s book, Nico can see sever articles of clothing hanging from a rack, the chair in front of the camera and closet; an spacious bed lays unkempt in the background, like someone just barely woke up, and since it’s ten in the morning, then it sure it’s not Carol.

 

“- Hold on! I’m coming!” A familiar voice shouts out from somewhere out of view, a few moments later Carol Danvers finally shows up… with a very blond baby squirming in her arms.

 

“- Oh my god! You had a baby!?” Nico exclaims, she is shocked at the image, her brain finally connects the dots, Captain Marvel took a sabbatical and went to her mom’s place, to stay and rest, for over nine months, almost a year in fact that would explain why the baby doesn’t look like a newborn and…

 

“- What? No, Nico—” Captain Marvel laughs

 

“- I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have called, you need to rest! And feed him! Or Her! I’m sorry I didn’t just assume your baby’s gender, I swear, please don’t tell Gert, I’m gonna leave you alone, it was good to see you, and her, or him, shit! I did it again, and I didn’t mean to curse in front of your child—”

 

“- Nico, it’s okay, calm down” Captain Marvel says “- Little Gerry here is not my son, it’s Jess’s”

 

“- Jess’s?”

 

“- Yeah, you know, Spider woman” Carol says readjusting her grip on Gerry.

 

“- Right, of course, I was at her baby shower” Nico says, she calms down a bit “- But I never met her baby”

 

“- Oh yeah, I remember” Carol says “- Well, Nico, meet Gerry! I’m on babysitting duty, normally he’s the sweetest, but the little bugger woke up with an attitude today” As if on cue Gerry turns to Carol and yanks a lock of hair “-Ow! Squid!” Carol tries her best to free her hair from Gerry’s grasp without drop him.

 

“- Captain, is this a bad time? We can talk later—"

 

“- It’s fine, Nico” Carol says and shifts baby Gerry, sitting him on her thigh, she gives the kid a toy to entertain himself.

 

“- Okay” Nico continues “- I see you’re not staying with your mom anymore”

 

“- Yeah, things have calmed down there, so I returned to New York”

 

“- You found another apartment then?” Nico asks, it’s no secret to her that after the destruction of the Alpha Flight space station Carol Danvers was, basically, homeless.

 

“- Ugh, no” Carol says, she pauses for a moment when Gerry throws his toy to the ground, she picks it up immediately and offers it back to him but the baby refuses the gift so she reaches for another toy she knows always cheers Gerry up, a Captain Marvel plushie that clearly has seen better days “- Finding a place to live has been impossible, I’m staying with Jess for the moment”

 

“- Cool” Nico says “- Hey! Molly have a doll exactly like that one” Nico says pointing at the plushie.

 

“- Yeah, this was Jess’s but Gerry took a liking to it, I promised Jess I’ll get another one for her, but the damned things are out of circulation”

 

“- I’m sure Molly could send you one”

 

“- Oh no, please, don’t worry, I don’t want to take her doll”

 

“- Are you kidding? It’s no problem, she has like five and she would be ecstatic to give you one, she’ll brag about helping Captain Marvel for weeks”

 

“- Thank you, Nico” Carol laughs.

 

“- So, Captain, did you have time to check up on the intel I gave you?” Nico asks.

 

“- I did” Carol says “- But, are you sure your source is trustworthy?”

 

“- I won’t trust him with cleaning Old Lace’s poop, but he has skin in this too, and he would do anything to save his own neck”

 

“- Right” Carol says “- Well, I asked Tony to look into it and yes, you are right, to some degree”

 

“- What do you mean?” Nico asks.

 

“- Tony confirmed that time travel technology has been used multiple times in Los Angeles area, and the places where it was used match with the records we have on Pride hideouts and known properties”

 

“- But…?”

 

“- But we can’t confirm who is doing it, or why. Now, I’m no fool, I know a recognizance mission when I see one, I do believe some unknown individual is hunting for the Pride, but Nico, it has been months since the first time travel signal, by now, whoever is doing this must know that there’s no Pride anymore and yet, they’re still showing up there, you have to wonder why”

 

It’s not lost on Nico the way Captain Marvel choose her words, _there’s no Pride anymore_ is a great euphemism for _your parents are dead as fuck._ In fact, very few times Captain Marvel has mentioned something about Nico’s parents, or Karolina’s or anyone else’s. Nico knows this is Carol’s way of caring, avoiding anything that might hurt her. And Nico cares that Carol cares, there is a whole set of feelings about this she is not ready, or willing, to acknowledge, but there’s another realization that hits her like a brick “- They must’ve found out about us, the children of the Pride” Nico says “- They are indeed looking for us” Her blood runs cold

 

“- That’s what I believe” Carol interjects “- I know it’s only speculation, but the fact is, none of you are safe living there, I want to make you a proposal”

 

Nico has a pretty good idea of what Captain Marvel is going to suggest, she asks anyway “- What is it, Captain?”

 

“- I think it would be best if you all move”

 

Nico saw this coming, and, honestly? She agrees with it, it will not be that simple to convince the rest of her family to leave, but, if Captain Marvel has found a decent place for them to go, well? She can be very persuasive when she wants to…not really, she is as delicate in diplomacy as an elephant is graceful in ballet, but she’ll try nonetheless, after all running away is what they do best.

 

“- I agree, Captain, but we don’t have anywhere else to go”

 

“- I already have found perfect hiding places for all of you”

 

“- Places?” As in plural? Nico thinks.

 

“- Yeah, I don’t have anywhere you can stay all together, and besides it’s not the best option tactically speaking”

 

“- Captain…”

 

“- Before you say no, my Ma’ agreed to take Gert and Old Lace and Chase, she already takes care of my cat for the moment and with my brother on a trip she could use some company, it’s not really a problem”

 

“- Captain…”

 

“- I called Jean Grey and she is eager to have Molly in her school, she would receive the best education in the world and she can make friends her own age, Jean also loves the idea of Rufus, a psychic cat is exactly her kind of field of expertise”

 

“- Captain”

 

“- Kamala and Viv Vision want Victor to go with them for a while, I didn’t agree with that at all at first, but Kamala assures me Viv wants nothing but reconcile with her uncle”

 

“- Captain”

 

“- You can stay with me! I’m about to get a new place, I think, and you’re obviously welcome, oh! And Jen says Karolina can stay with her, I know you’ll prefer to stay together but you’ll be living real close and Jen and I spend a lot of time together anyway so you’ll have plenty of privacy…”

 

“- Captain!” That does it, finally Nico has her attention. “- Thank you, I do think that’s the best course of action” And there it is, if these past months have taught her anything is that a leader must be ready to make the hard choices. Nico hates even the idea of separate her family again, her own heart will shatter if she has to lose them, but she would die if anything happens to them, so, safety before feelings this time.

 

“- Really?”

 

“- Yeah, it’s not an ideal situation and I don’t know how I’m gonna break the news to the guys but their safety comes first, and I can’t protect them here”

 

In that very moment, Nico hears the door, her ever present wariness, that some people could classify as paranoia, maker her jump a little, consciously, she knows it must be Karolina.

 

“- Nico? You home?”

 

Nico hears the singsongy voice of her girlfriend down the hallway “- Wait a second, Captain” She says and then turns her head towards the door “- In here, Karrie!” She shouts.

 

Karolina opens the door and peeks inside “- Oh! Good morning, Captain, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb”

 

Both Nico and Captain Marvel smile, Nico knows Karolina is always polite and well mannered around Carol, and Carol is very fond of Karrie, yeah that makes Nico’s heart swell and brings a lot more feelings she’s not ready to face any time soon.

 

“- Hello, Karolina, you’re not interrupting” Carol says and beacons to Karrie to enter the room, they switched to first name basis long ago, sort of, Karolina never ditched calling her Captain.

 

Nico smiles at Karolina and gives her a quick kiss, she wanted to fill her in the conversation, but Karolina gets immediately distracted the second she turns to the screen.

 

“- Oh, Captain, you had a baby!?” Karolina exclaims.

 

 “- Not you too…” Carol sighs “- No, Karolina, this is Gerry—”

 

“- Jess’s son? He’s so big!” Karolina interjects.

 

“- Oh, I didn’t know you knew him already” Carol says.

 

“- Julie and I visited her after she gave birth, Gerry was only a couple weeks old” Karolina shrugs. “- Seems like a lifetime ago, he really has grown”

 

“- You tell me, I’m staying with Jess until I get another apartment and I’ve seen how fast this little man is getting fat!” Carol smiles to Gerry, then she carries him a little higher “- Gerry, say hi to Karolina” She coos

 

The only response from baby Gerry is a good slap to Carol face, he seems to find it really funny.

 

“- Squid!” Carol exclaims “- Sorry, he’s on a mood”

 

“- Captain? Just keep him looking at the screen” Karolina says, she takes her suppressor bracelet off and uses her powers to make different light forms dance around the air.

 

That little trick works like a charm, in no time Gerry is reaching for the screen (and making Carol tripping on herself to get a hold of him) it works so fine that even Carol and Nico are completely enthralled too. Nico gives Karolina a questioning look.

 

“- This used to work with Julie’s cousins” Karolina shrugs.

 

“- Neat trick” Carol says.

 

“- Thanks, so, what you were talking about?” Karolina asks still her light show.

 

“- Well” Nico begins “- With someone hunting for us, Captain thinks we will be safer if we move from L.A.” Nico sees Karolina tensing, she even almost lost her concentration.

 

“- Okay—” Karolina urges Nico to continue.

 

“- And I agree” Nico says “- We should put everyone into safety until this situation resolves”

 

“- I promise you, Karolina” Captain Marvel says “- I’ll use every resource I have to find out who is hunting you and I’ll, personally, stop them”

 

“- I understand, thank you, Captain” Karolina smiles.

 

“- You’re very welcome” Carol says “- Well, I need to go, and Gerry here needs his launch, so, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

 

“- Bye, Captain, bye Gerry” Karolina says and finishes her light show.

 

“- I’ll talk to you later about the moving, Captain” Nico says, then she logs off. “-So, what do you think?” She asks Karolina.

 

“- I don’t know” Karolina says “- Moving doesn’t sound too exiting but I’ll manage”

 

“- Thank you” Nico reaches for Karolina’s hand. Karolina smiles at her “- Well, I’ll wait for everyone to come home before talking to them. You had launch yet, Karrie?”

 

“- Nothing since breakfast”

 

“- C’mon” Nico exits the room towing Karolina behind “- I’ll cook you something and you can tell me about your day”

 

“- I love when you’re all domestic” Karolina giggles.

 

“- Wait ‘till you hear how much cleaning I did, you’re gonna want to propose”

 

-

 

“- Fuck you, Nico! Fuck that plan and fuck Captain Marvel!”

 

This could be going worse, maybe, Nico reassures herself “- Please, Gert—”

 

“- Don’t you "please, Gert" me!”

 

“- I’m looking out for us, I really think this is the best course of action”

 

“- You are splitting us, not protecting us” Chase interjects.

 

“- And we’ll not be safe, at least I won’t, I don’t want to go with Viv Vision, if she doesn’t kill me her dad will” Victor says.

 

“- Exactly” Chase says “- How are we supposed to be safe if me, Gert and Lace go to an old lady’s house?”

 

Nico rolls her eyes because she promised Captain Marvel she will not reveal that the Captain’s mom is actually a full fledged Kree world conqueror and protecting people wouldn’t be any kind of problem to someone with that kind of power, but whatever. “- Molly?” Nico asks directly at her.

 

“- Going to the Jean Grey school doesn’t sound that bad but, can’t you all guys come too? The school isn’t only for mutants, maybe they’ll take you too”

 

“- Okay, that’s a good idea” Chase interjects again “- We’re friends with some X-Men, let’s talk to Laura and I bet she can get us in”

 

“- Assuming we even want to go, dumbass” Gert snaps at Chase.

 

So far, Chase and Molly seem the most open to move while Gert and Victor are die hard on staying, no surprise there, Nico remembers when Julie Power made a similar offer, the same persons took the same sides, but all seem on the same page about splitting up, they won’t do it, which defeats the whole purpose of hiding according to Nico, although, there’s someone who hasn’t said anything yet.

 

“- Karrie?” Nico looks at her girlfriend who appears to be deep in thought.

 

“- Uhm?” Karolina mumbles.

 

“- What do you think?” Nico silently pleads for her support, it would be crucial in order to make the rest of them understand.

 

“- I think we’re too tired and too irritable to make a choice right now, let’s cool our heads and sleep it off, we’ll talk tomorrow morning”

 

Nico huffs, she wants to object, in her mind, they need to go as soon as possible, what is Karrie doing? Stalling this will only result in them being hurt, still, one look at her family, the weariness in their eyes and she gives up, for now. “- Fine” Nico says “- It’s been a long day”

 

Nico walks to the kitchen looking for a glass of water while everyone else go to their rooms or go watch TV or something, she looks in the counter for a clean glass “- Karrie?” She calls to her girlfriend but there’s no response.

 

Nico exits the kitchen and finds that only Chase is in the living room “- Hey, Chase, where’s Karolina?” She asks him.

 

“- Upstairs” He says pointing at the upper floor.

 

“- Okay, thanks” Nico walks by him and can’t help but notice the cold demeanor coming from Chase, she’ll talk to him later.

 

“- Karrie?” Nico announces herself when she reaches their room, Karolina is seated on the bed hunched over her phone not really looking at it “- Everything okay?” She slaps herself mentally, what a dumb question to ask.

 

Karolina just gives Nico a look and goes back to her phone.

 

“- So, you’re in a funk” Nico says.

 

“- No shit” Karolina answers.

 

Nico steps into the room and closes the door, Karolina still isn’t looking at her, so she sits on the bed maintaining a respectful distance “- I think you made the right call, we needed to cool off” She says.

 

“- Yeah” Karolina huffs.

 

Nico lowers her head and prepares for the discussion that is to come “- Okay, will you tell me why you’re mad?”

 

Finally, Karolina looks at her, straight in the eye “- Because of your stupid plan”

 

“- But—But we were fine earlier today, you seem okay with Captain’s idea earlier today”

 

“- I was open to the idea of moving, but you never told me we were going to split our family up”

 

“- I—I, well, yeah, I guess I thought it was obvious, sorry” Nico says.

 

“- Well, you should be sorry, you should know better!” Karolina yells.

 

Nico flinches at Karolina’s words, they were uncalled for, that’s for sure, but Nico knows Karolina, she knows she is pissed, but not only because Nico took for granted that she knew her family had to split up, there is something else.

 

“- I understand what I did wrong, I will be more clear about stuff like that” Nico says and inches closer to Karolina “- Now, could you, please, tell me what are you really mad about?”

 

Karolina keeps silent, Nico begins to worry when she finally speaks “- Why are being like this, Nico?”

 

“- Like what?” Nico asks she really has no idea what Karolina means.

 

Karolina turns to her, the intensity of her eyes makes it clear this is serious “- When Julie suggested we register into the Avengers Initiative, you agreed, yes with some tweaks here and there but you agreed” Karolina begins counting with her fingers “- You needed a job and, when only the shittier one is available? You take it” She lifts another finger “- Then, when Captain Marvel set her conditions for us to register, you agreed” Another finger “- Now, she’s telling us that we should hide and split our family, and you’re agreeing with this too!”

 

“- Karolina—I—I just think it’s the reasonable thing to do” Nico answers.

 

“- Damn it, Nico! Six months ago you would have never let yourself do this! You would never submit to any of this! What is wrong with you? You used to be a fighter” Karolina gets up from the bed articulating wildly.

 

“- What you want me to do, Karolina?!” Nico can’t contain herself anymore, she follows Karolina and gets up“- Flip everyone off and return to live in abandoned houses, scrapping for food money every other day? Hide Molly away and prevent her from going to school, to have a normal life? To don a stupid costume and play superhero to look for whoever is hunting for us?!”

 

“- I expected you to fight! You’re acting so meekly is sickening! The Nico I know would have fought with everything she had to keep her family safe! To keep us together! No force on earth, not some unknown fuck, not fucking Captain Marvel not anyone would’ve step between us, and you damn well know we would have be at your side—”

 

“- I’m fucking scared! Okay!?” Nico yells, she notices Karolina stops talking, then she feels something wet and warm running down her hand, she pressed her fingers so hard she drew blood “- I—I’m terrified” Nico lowers her gaze and tends to her wound.

 

Nico feels tears running down her eyes giving Karolina pause “- What if I lose you, Karrie?” She stops picking at her hand and focus on Karolina “- What if I lose everyone?” She wipes her tears with the back of her hand smudging her eyeliner “- I’ve done that, you know? Lose people in a fight”

 

Karolina calms down, she reaches for Nico’s hand and takes it, but Nico doesn’t reciprocate “- Nico…” Karolina says.

 

Nico sits back down, feeling deflated “- And it’s not just now, I’ve been scared out of my mind since we all got back together” She sniffs and takes a tissue from the night table to wipe her nose “- Every time I hear there is an accident in the highway my heart skips a beat thinking that it was you or Chase or that my spells are gonna wear out and Molly will be snatched back into the system or Gert’s aorta will disappear…”

 

Karolina slumps back onto the bed, sighs and lowers her gaze like the floor is the most interesting thing in the world “- I’m sorry” She says “- I snapped at you, it was uncalled for”

 

“- You’re kind of right, you know?” Nico says looking as defeated as Karolina “- I was talking to Elsa the other day, and she said something similar, that I lost my, and I quote, _steel hard bollocks_ ”

 

“- Well, it’s Elsa, she’s very abrasive to talk to, and sometimes, also to look at” Karolina says.

 

Nico chuckles “- She’s not wrong though” She wipes another stubborn tear running down her cheek “- I get that, I can be a very infuriating person”

 

“- Yeah, you can” Karolina says but there’s no bite in her words which makes Nico chuckles again “- But I get it, we have so much to lose now, I—I get scared too, it’s just that we fought so hard—”

 

“- And come so far and in the end, it doesn’t eve matters?” Nico interjects incapable of containing herself.

 

“- You cut that out or I break up with you right now” Karolina says in good spirits.

 

Nico can’t wipe the smirk of her face even if she wanted to“- Sorry, sorry” She says.

 

“- It’s just—I really struggled to get our family back, to get you back, and now that we’re gonna be split, I don’t know—I’m afraid it’s gonna be permanent”

 

Nico keeps quiet for a long while, taking Karolina’s hand, stroking it soothingly with her thumb “- Okay, you need to come with me” She says getting up from the bed.

 

“- Where—?”

 

“- We’re gonna take a ride, c’mon, you’re driving” Nico says, Karolina doesn’t object anymore.

 

-

 

Sometimes Karolina can’t read Nico right, she knows her, better than most people, and yet, there are days when Nico surprises, normally, it’s endearing, other times it’s just plain weird, today is a little bit of both.

 

“- Take this exit” Nico says pointing at the next exit in the highway.

 

Karolina does as she’s told, still, without any idea where Nico is taking them, she only knows they’re getting to Pasadena from the looks of it.

 

“- Turn right next street” Nico guides again.

 

“- San Marino?” Karolina asks, she’s beginning to recognize the neighborhood, a well off area she has passed once or twice when she gets home from Pomona when the highway is packed.

 

“- Yeah” Nico says “- Just past Green street, it’s not far”

 

“- Okay” Karolina says, what is not far? She doesn’t have a clue, there’s nothing but real state developments in the area, when they exited the Hostel she thought Nico was taking her to some improvised date, or maybe somewhere to cool off, or some place romantic and secluded where they could—Okay, she has to stop this, ever since getting together with Nico her libido has been off the charts, barely able to keep her hands of Nico, but whatever this is, is serious and has Nico really worked up, Karolina needs to pay attention.

 

“- There’s a little area where you can park there” Nico points at an empty mini parking lot, really, it just is a small clearing in the street big enough for maybe three cars “- We’re here” Nico announces.

 

“- Where’s here?” Karolina asks.

 

“- Follow me, you’ll see” Nico says.

 

They follow the road to the entrance of what seems a little cl-de-sac, said entry barred with police tape that Nico doesn’t pay any mind to, she steps on the poorly kept lawn around it end walks down the street.

 

“- Uh, babe, are we breaking and entering?” Karolina asks.

 

Nico laughs “- I assure you we’re not, c’mon” She beckons Karolina to follow.

 

The road is wide enough for two cars, Karolina thinks, and it’s in pretty good shape, if only the lawn at the side could be pruned, the block Is not exactly big, there are six houses forming a semicircle in it, Nico stops in the middle of the street, in front of a fancy looking house, high ceilings, big windows, a little terrace in the front, Karolina knows her architecture, the design is what new and hypermodern looked a couple decades ago, she estimates the house must’ve been built late 90’s or early 2000’s.

 

Nico turns to her “- What do you think?” She asks.

 

“- What do I think?”

 

“- About the house” Nico clarifies.

 

“- It’s… nice?”

 

“- I hope so” Nico says “- I think we can make it work, a little maintenance and it will be a nice place to live”

 

“- What?”

 

“- It’s mine” Nico says.

 

“- What?!”

 

“- Well, it’s complicated, and technically it’s not mine yet, but, yeah”

 

“- How--?”

 

“- Evil rich parents, remember?” Nico says “- After they were outed as super villains, most of their properties were seized of course, but this right here wasn’t at their name, they make it so I own the property, they even bought it with clean money”

 

“- Wow, and you’ve been owning this place since then?” Karolina asks.

 

“- I didn’t even knew it existed” Nico laughs “- But, when we joined the Avengers Initiative, this property showed up in the system as mine, Jennifer Walters called me couple days later about this, since it’s abandoned the city council wanted to seize it too, but  Jennifer’s been fighting tooth and nail so I can keep it, it really pays to have She Hulk as your incredibly smart lawyer, it’s a  matter of months before it's all cleared out”

 

“- Holly shit, Nico! This is amazing!” Karolina exclaims and hugs her girlfriend “- You have a house!”

 

“- We have a house, Karrie” Nico says “- I was expecting we all could move here, you and me, Vic, Molly, Gert, Chase, I’m sure I can make a decent place for Old Lace and Rufus, maybe a nice Dino house, I don’t know, no more Hostel no more mail getting lost, no more clandestinely”

 

“- Whoa” Karolina says again “- I mean, it’s a beautiful house, we might have to remodel a little for all of us to fit in, but yeah, this could work!” She beams at Nico.

 

“- Remodel...?” Nico laughs “- Oh, no Karrie, it’s not just this one house, I own the whole block” Nico says and extends her arms, gesturing at the rest of the houses.

 

Karolina is speechless, a whole block, for them, and it is a nice block, the six houses are all very nice, each of them different from the rest, with a unique sense of style of their own, someone really put thought into it “- Oh my god…” Karolina finally says.

 

“- I´m thinking, Molly could take the house next to ours, it has the best backyard and she can turn it into a small soccer field” Nico says pointing at the house right from theirs “- Gert would love that one” Nico points at another house “- It’s secluded, those threes  give a lot of privacy “- I don’t know which house Victor would like the best, but all of them have enough space for his memorabilia and action figures and stuff” Nico takes Karolina’s hand and moves closer to the middle house, their house “- Chase can the that one” she says pointing at the left “- There’s a big tool shed there, he can use it as a workshop of sorts, the other house left maybe can be the guest house of sorts, oh! And wait ‘till you see our backyard! I can finally give you a proper garden!” Nico says excitedly.

 

“- Oh my god, Nico, this is amazing—” Karolina chokes and takes her hand to her mouth, unable to contain the, very happy, tears in her eyes “- How long you’ve been planning all of this?”

 

Nico rushes to hug her “- Months” She says “I wanted to surprise you all when this whole deal with Alex and our mysterious stalker ended, I wanted to give you a place where we could build a better life” Nico takes Karolina’s hands between hers “- I promise you this, Karrie, the arrangement with Captain Marvel will not be permanent, she assured me they can locate our stalker and send a task force to deal with them, and when they do, I’ll personally join them, I’m gonna make sure we’re safe”

 

“- I’m gonna be at your side, Nico” Karolina says with an intensity that, clearly surprises Nico “- If you fight, I’ll fight, we are gonna keep our family safe”

 

“- We will” Nico says .

 

“- But, please, can we find somewhere else to live in New York in the meantime? I don’t want to stay with Spiderwoman for long, I like her, but her apartment is tiny, just two bedrooms and one is Gerry’s nursery , I hate sleeping on couches”

 

“- C’mon, if Captain Marvel does it, why couldn’t you, you’re way tougher than her” Nico laughs.

 

“- Oh, please Nico, like she ever slept in Jessica Drew’s couch even once? Karolina says.

 

“- Where else?” Nico shrugs.

 

“- C’mon, Nico” Karolina says.

 

“- What?”

 

“- She’s staying with Jessica, taking care of her son, in an apartment with only one bed made for adults? It’s a perfect romance novel material!”

 

“- Oh, please, Karrie, you think everyone is gay” Nico says.

 

“- And I’m right about those two”

 

“- Ugh, you’re gonna be a pain to live with”

 

“- You love me, though” Karolina winks at Nico.

 

“- Yeah, I really do”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?
> 
> As I said, this is a set up chapter, the end is nigh, just two more chapters to go. I'm sorry I can't go into detail, but... man, the finale is something I've been working for a long time, I really hope it works.
> 
> A few notes, yes, Jessica Drew, aka Spiderwoman has a son named Gerry. I didin't know Spider woman and Captain Marvel were kind of a thing in the internet! And while I do like Carol's romance with Rhodey Rodes (War Machine) because I think it makes sense (both are military people who happens to know what being a superhero is like and similar backgrounds) and I also happen to like Spiderwoman's boyfriend, Roger (the procupine) for similar reasons (both are ex super villains turned heroes) I personally think Captain Marvel would make and excellent lesbian mom for Gerry... maybe I'll write something for them some day.
> 
> Also, yes, Nico really was in Spiderwoman's baby shower, you can catch a glimpse of her talking to Squirrel Girl in the the Spiderwoman series from 2015!
> 
> Any way, let me know what you think in the comments!


	6. THE RUNAWAYS NEED HELP!!!! Again, this is not an update

Hello, lovelys! I'm sorry to bother you, and doubly sorry if you clicked hoping for an update (don't worry on that regard, an update is coming real soon)

So, here's the thing, I know there's reason to celebrate since this weekend it was made official the Runaway's TV series was renewed for a third season! Which is, undoubtedly, awesome.

However, just last week, Rainbow Rowell, writer of the current Runaways series for Marvel, basically asked for help, you see, the comics are not selling as well as before and if we want them to keep going the sales need to go up, and honestly, we don't even need that much, just a couple thousand more people buying it and I guarantee the series will continue for a long time.

So I'm asking you, if you can, pick up the book (cover price is 3.99 dlls for a single issue of 23 pages that comes out monthly), I swear you won't regret it, this is one of the best series Marvel has put up in years, and if you like deanoru, obviously this book is for you. You can subscribe via the comixolgy app, or of you have a local comicbook shop, you can buy it there! Making a subscription for a comic is really easy these days, and don't worry, comicbook shops are your friends, long gone are the days when the staff in them were like the comicbook guy from the simpsons, if you ask the staff to help you to make a subscription and find the book they will be more than happy to do so. If you live in the US you can locate your nearest comicbook shop in here: www(.)comicshoplocator(.)com

If you can't pick up the book, maybe recommend it to a friend? Word of mouth is a really powerful tool, you never know who might be interested and might become a huge fan, I assure you, this works, I have convinced quite a bit of people to buy the book (Marvel should give me some money)

Lastly, the other thing you can do, is leaving positive reviews in sites like goodbooks or amazon, the more reviews are for a book they get a spot in the front pages of their sites, making them more available for more people, a side effect of this, is that publishers like Marvel or DC pay close attention to the reviews on those sites, it helps them to decide which book gets to continue.

But again, the best thing we all can do is convince more people to buy Runaways, of course that would meant more comics for a longer time but it would also send a powerful message to Marvel about what kind of stories we want to have.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading my ramblings, I hope you can help. And since you're here anyway here's a little extract from the next chapter of "We are where we want to be":

"For Karolina life had a surprise, she ended up rolled in the very prestigious Empire State University, the very same place she didn’t want to go when Julie Power, her ex girlfriend, suggested it months ago, she also ended up finding somewhere to live with Jessica Drew in west side New York, a few blocks from Julie actually, life can be a bitch.

" "“- Everyone! Back inside!” She shouts and runs full speed back to the Hostel entrance dragging Karolina with her, nobody objects, they all see what Nico and Karolina saw. Nico makes sure everyone gets inside, she turns for a second before entering herself and sealing the doors"


	7. The best laid plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra long chapter, no summary this time, I don't want to spoil anything but fair warning, there is a lot of nastiness in here, there is violence, self harm, mentions of suicide and death, just thread lightly.

Life changes.

 

“- Karrie, have you seen my bag?”

 

It is unavoidable, nothing remains the same, the only thing we can do about it is how we deal with it.

 

“- Which bag?”

 

There are people who crave change, who need the world to be as in constant move as them.

 

“- My black bag, I put all my make up in it”

 

There are also people who loathe change, who will need to be dragged screaming and kicking towards it.

 

“- Babe, all your bags are black”

 

The funny thing is, we are so convinced we know ourselves enough to know how we deal with change, real change the kind of change you cannot walk back from.

 

“- Well, the medium size one, the one with only one handle?”

 

But we can’t know for sure how are we going to react when a big change is upon us, we can speculate, of course, but it’s only at the face of it that we know the true nature of our soul.

 

“- Oh! I think Molly has it”

 

What is the true nature of Karolina’s soul? She herself wonders that often.

 

“- Thanks! I’ll go get it”

 

Today, the Runaways are on the verge of change, for the foreseeable future, they will have to be split, for their own protection it’s what everyone tells them. Gert, Chase and Old Lace will go to Maine, home of Marie Danvers, mother of Captain Marvel. Molly and Victor will go the recently renamed Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach, the school run by Jean Grey who harbors mutants all over the world, much to Victor relief and Molly’s delight. Nico and Karolina will be put also in New York, while Nico wanted even the most menial of jobs available at Janet Van Dyne’s fashion company, there were no positions open for the moment, and she would have to wait for a bit longer to talk to Janet about it since she was in New Jersey taking care of her daughter (a surprise, really, Nico didn’t knew Janet have a daughter) then, Nico was offered a position as Captain’s Marvel assistant (Gert’s comments were a little too harsh and hurtful about this), she declined but managed to stay as an entry level attaché in Jennifer Walters Law firm, a nice way of saying she will be running coffee errands and taking print outs.

 

For Karolina life had a surprise, she ended up rolled in the very prestigious Empire State University, the very same place she didn’t want to go when Julie Power, her ex girlfriend, suggested it months ago, she also never found somewhere to live, in such a short notice, except with Jessica Drew in west side New York, a few blocks from Julie actually, life can be a bitch.

 

“- Didi you found your bag?” Karolina asks Nico when she join the rest of the Runaways in the living room of the Hostel.

 

“- Yeah, she almost put it in one of her boxes”

 

“- Okay, we are almost done, then”

 

“- Yep, I’ll help Chase loading the rest of our things”

 

Karolina throws a glance at the small pile of bags and boxes containing their essential belongings, a reminder that this is temporal, the rest of their stuff will remain in the Hostel, it will be safe guarded by Shield personnel while the Runaways are away.

 

“- Karolina?” Molly’s voice interrupts her thoughts

 

“- What is it, Molls?” She says turning towards Molly.

 

“- You’ll visit, right? When we get to New York?”

 

Telling Molly she had to move, again, was one of the hardest things she had to do, Nico wanted to do it herself, but… Karolina takes Molly’s wellbeing as a personal matter.

 

“- Of course, Molly!” Karolina says cheerfully, she hugs Molly and realizes with how much strength Molly is hugging her back when something pops at her hip “- We’ll be living real close, just a train away” Finally, Molly releases her “- How’s Victor doing?”

 

“- Er—fine, I guess” Molly answers.

 

Victor has been a source of worry for weeks, since Nico and she convinced the rest of the family to move (a particularly nasty affair where Karolina learned a few new ways to insult people thanks to Gert) Victor had to be physically restrained from running away, thinking that Viv Vision wanted nothing but revenge (for what? He didn’t tell) in the end, he forced a compromise, he would go with Molly to keep her company, the problem is, since that little incident he’d stop using his robot body altogether.

 

Karolina has noticed a few other worrying signs, how Victor became more withdrawn, sometimes, he asked to be just left alone in his room, just his head in the middle of a dark room, yeah, that has triggered some alarms; and it’s not only him, Gert is way more irritable and snappy, losing her patience at any time, that just sounds like normal Gert, but she never snapped at Molly before, and that has happened more than once in the las two seeks.

 

Speaking of Molly, Karolina couldn’t help but notice she’s turning shyer by the day, sometimes even avoiding the rest of them and going straight to her room after school, that, she never did before.  Chase became frantic with work, Nico told her about Chase’s problems with alcohol and she’s been looking for signs on him for days, so far, it all seems fine other than the fact Chase never spends more than a few hours at home, still, Karolina worries.

 

And Nico… Karolina loves her to death, but she’s been getting on her nerves, Nico took as her mission to make them all move to New York as soon as possible, she quit her job and spent almost every waking hour making preparations for all of them to move. Karolina knows her reaction is out of fear, so she has cut Nico a lot of slack, still, Nico’s frantic rhythm has kept everyone on edge for days, this moving couldn’t get any sooner.

 

“- Alright, Molls, just keep an eye on him, I’ll visit daily but you have to do that for me, okay?” Karolina says.

 

“- You got it” Molly hugs her gain.

 

Finally everyone is in the living room, bags in hand and ready to go, Karolina checks her watch, it seems  a miracle but they’re on time, a flood of feelings washes over her, she’s relieved, both because they will catch their respective flights and because they will be safe once they arrive at their destinations, but she can’t shake the feeling of dread out of her, this is a big change for all of them and Karolina loathes to be separated from her family once again.

 

“-Everyone ready to go?” Nico asks.

 

Everyone nods in agreement. They group walk to the main entrance of the hostel, the last time in probably months they will do so.

 

“- Hey, Chase?” Nico calls him.

 

“- Yeah?”

 

“- You sure you gave the pass codes to the SHIELD personnel? I don’t want anyone calling about our house blast door being blown apart or something”

 

“- Relax, Minoru” Chase says “- Everything’s covered”

 

“- Okay” Nico says and takes Karolina’s hand “- Let’s go” They are the first to exit the Hostel.

 

Karolina lets herself being led by Nico out of the Hostel and into Chase’s van parked outside, her mind occupied with a thousand things she will need to take care of once they arrive to New York, checking in with Jessica Drew, unpack and fix her new room as soon as possible, go to Empire State University to register her new address, she wants Nico with her all the way but she doesn’t know if that would be possible, perhaps Jennifer Walters is a very strict boss and wants Nico to work at once and… she needs to call Julie… at least to letting her know… it’s going to be awkward.

 

Karolina feels it before anyone else, just the subtlest change in the atmosphere around them, perhaps her alien physiology is particularly sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure or perhaps it has something to do with electrical charges, whatever the case she realizes something is wrong, but couldn’t quite place it instantly, there was no sound, no other indicator of something amiss, then, she looked up and stop dead in her tracks, her hand lingered on Nico’s so her girlfriend stopped too.

 

Karolina has the wherewithal to know that Nico is asking her something, but she cannot respond, her only focus is on the figure hovering a couple dozen feet above the van, a single solitary person wearing a red armor looking down at them, immediately, Karolina’s mind recalls every single detail of information both Captain Marvel and Alex Wilder told them about their stalker, whoever that person is, whatever their intentions are, they have found them.

 

-

 

“- Karrie, what is it?” Nico asks for the second time, she has no clue what has her girlfriend so spooked, that is, until she follows Karrie’s eyes, then she sees it, something, someone, floating above the van, someone in a red armor, matching the description she has read a hundred times.

 

Nico turns in her heels, still holding Karolina’s hand “- Everyone! Back inside!” She shouts and runs full speed back to the Hostel entrance dragging Karolina with her, nobody objects, they all see what Nico and Karolina saw. Nico makes sure everyone gets inside, she turns for a second before entering herself and sealing the doors, she catches a glimpse of the man chasing them, at least for what the armor looks like it seems like a man, she sees him charging at the door.

 

A loud boom makes all the Runaways to stumble “- What the hell was that!” He asks.

 

“-  He found us” Nico says, she keeps walking to the back entrance of the Hostel, well, it’s not really a back entrance is more like a sewer that never gets used, Victor found it some time ago and Nico agreed it would make a good escape route.

 

“- Who found us?!” Gert asks this time.

 

“- It doesn’t make sense, what does he want with us?” Nico says to herself.

 

“- What do you mean, Nico?” Karolina asks her.

 

“- We have to get out, we have to get out now” Nico keeps telling, again, more to herself than to somebody else.

 

“- Nico!” Karolina stops her, Nico didn’t realize she was still holding Karrie’s hand “- Who is that?”

 

The look of fear and shock in her family’s eyes bring Nico’s back, she can hear a booming sound coming from the door “- I recognize that armor, I saw it back then when I was with A-Force, that’s Iron Lad”

 

“- Who?” Gert asks.

 

“- An old enemy of the Young Avengers when they were still around, Wiccan told us about it when we met them” Karolina ads.

 

“- If it’s an old enemy of them, we can take him” Gert says.

 

“- No, we can’t” Nico says “- Iron Lad is a younger version of Kang The Conqueror, and he’s wearing a very advanced battle suit from the far future, we’re outmatched” She snatches her phone and starts typing rapidly.

 

“- C’mon, Nico” Molly says.

 

“- What’s the plan?” Karolina asks her.

 

“- Call for back up, run like hell, survive” Nico answers “- I already sent a SOS to every hero on the net”

 

Another boom, louder shakes the whole place.

 

“- Chase, how much time will the door hold?” Nico asks.

 

“- Minutes, less if he digs through the mountain”

 

“ **When blood is shed let the Staff of One emerge** ” Nico chants “- Okay, we go to through the back door, I’ll distract him, you guys take the van and go to the Gauntlet, the Initiative staff there should keep you safe”

 

Karolina takes her bracelet off flooding the room with multicolored light “- Like hell you’re going to fight alone”

 

“- Karrie—” Nico wanted to interject.

 

“- No, I told you, you fight? I fight”

 

Another loud boom, this sounded like an explosion but a there was something different about it, shakes the Hostel, Nico makes her mind “- Fine, Karolina and I will throw everything we have at him, you guys go, don’t use the highway!”

 

“- What the hell?” Chase says “- What makes you think we’ll let you guys fight alone?”

 

“- Karrie and I can fly, we are way faster than your van, we’ll be fine, but the rest of you need to act as unit, you have your fistagons so, if he chases you, you can shot from a long distance, in case of emergency Molly can go Hulk on his butt” Nico doesn’t mince words, time is running out, nobody seems to have some other objection “- Okay, let’s move”

 

Nico leads her family through the small tunnel connecting the Hostel and the abandoned sewer, from time to time she hears explosions in the distance, one feels one particularly closer.

 

“- That was the door” Chase says.

 

Everyone speeds up their pace at Chase’s words, they finally reach the end of the sewer, it’s closed with a heavy grate that Nico and Chase spent a couple of hours fixing, they installed a concealed door with a couple of new hinges, so the open it without a sound.

 

Once outside they all stay close to the rock wall at the base of the mountain, trying to stay hidden as much as possible, an old habit that never died down. They have to go to the front part of the Hostel, that means clearing a big part of the mountain, the natural corners of it preventing them from being seen.

 

“- What now?” Gert asks.

 

“- Karrie and I will go first, attack him on two flanks, that should give you guys time, get in the van, don’t stop for anything, got it?”

 

“- Got it” The all say.

 

Without another word, Nico and Karolina take flight, widening the distance between them in a classic claw move, Nico dares a glance back, she sees the rest of them running behind, she speeds up and notices Karolina does the same. Nico is the first one to clear the mountain to where the van was parked, she expected Iron Lad would be waiting for her, she already had a spell ready to conjure a barrier from the blast that would surely be coming her way and giving Karolina time to reach him and counter with a blast of her own, a move they learned in the previous months while training for the initiative.

 

That plan goes to shit instantly.

 

When Nico reaches the Hostel main entrance she sees Iron Lad siting calmly over what used to be Chase’s van, now is only a smoking pile of twisted metal. He is playing with them.

 

Nico looks back briefly, the rest of her family catching up to them, she flies between them and Iron Lad in hope to give them some protection, Karolina is at her side in an instant.

 

“- Pride” Iron Lad says the moment all of them are in full view.

 

“- You won’t lay a finger on them” Nico aims her staff at him

 

“- No” Iron Lad replies “- I only need one of you” He raises his arm priming up a blast.

 

Nico takes half a second too long to realize he isn’t aiming at her or Karolina, his aiming is pointing at...

 

“- Gert!”

 

Chase tackles Gert out of the way, saving her from Iron Lad’s blast, he wasn’t that lucky, the blast grazed him on the side, he now takes her hands to where he was hit, grimacing in pain.

 

Chase was hit, that was the only thing Nico’s brain can process right now, her worst nightmare, her family being hurt, is becoming a reality right in front of her. She is paralyzed, neither fear nor shock can make her move, she is floating and yet she feels like the ground itself has her gripped down.

 

With increasing horror Nico can only witness Iron Lad aiming at Gert again. He fires.

 

She’s going to lose Gert, again, the girl that she knew since she was born, the one that hid her My Little Ponies in the woods, the one she knitted a purple scar for her birthday, she will lose her family, she’s going to be left behind, alone. Again.

 

Iron Lad’s shot never reaches Gert, Karolina flies in front of it and fires back cancelling each other’s blast. Karolina charges at him firing two powerful shots.

 

“ _If you fight? I fight”_ Nico hears the words in her mind again and again, Karolina is fighting, like she said she would, she said she would keep her family safe, Nico did too, she promised, the why isn’t she fighting!?

 

“- Nico!”

 

Molly’s voice finally clears her mind. Nico turns her head to where Molly is calling her, she is hunched over with Gert trying to help Chase. Nico looks momentarily at Karolina, she’s holding her own against Iron Lad, flying around, keeping in constant movement, shooting at him to throw him off, Karrie is indeed very powerful, but Nico knows she isn’t trying to take Iron Lad on her own, she is buying time.

 

Nico flies to where the rest of her family is huddle up, Chase is hunched over, eyes closed in a rictus of pain, Gert tries to hold him as best she can, Molly is still carrying Victor both looking in distress, even Old Lace and Rufus seem down and concerned.

 

“- Chase needs help!” Gert yells at her the moment Nico is close enough, Chase barely can keep himself from passing out and is unable to form proper sentences or even move.

 

“- How bad is it?” She asks, dreading the answer.

 

Gert removes her hands and Nico’s stomach plummets to the ground, the shot didn’t hit him directly, but a graze is enough, Chase side is badly burnt, blisters covering a huge area near his ribcage, in some places the skin is almost black.

 

“- You have to help him, Nico” Molly pleads.

 

Nico’s main source of power, and ironically, weakness, is not her Staff but her wit, that was clear after the very first days she got the Staff One, fortunately for her she was always a bookish girl, her vocabulary was vast for someone her age, still, she burned through it in the first couple of months as a Runaway, since then she has made her personal mission to know better, having spells already prepared for all occasions. So, she reads a lot, one of her favorite subjects is medicine (if only her parents could see her now) she doesn’t really care for the medical practice more than the average person, but she has committed to memory so many new procedures for treating an incredibly wide range of injuries.

 

“- **Bio engineered skin graft** ” Nico chants pointing the Staff towards Chase’s wound, new skin appears woven out of light covering and replacing Chase’s charred flesh, his relief is evident, he can finally open her eyes and his breading evens out.

 

“- Shit—thank you, Nico” Chase says “- That bastard wrecked my van, how are we gonna escape?”

 

“- Get us out of here, Nico!” Gert says.

 

“- I can’t” Nico answers, she maybe can conjure another teletransportation spell, a big maybe since it’s a kind of spell she has used in many occasions, but, from what she knows about Iron Lad, he can just use his time travel technology and catch up to them again “- We have to take him down”

 

“- Chase, stay with Gert and Victor” Nico begins “- Iron Lad comes close to you, blast him. Molly, Lace, with me” Calling the dinosaur up to fight… sometimes, even in the worst of situations Nico can’t help but smile at the silliness of her life.

 

As powerful as Karolina is, Nico sees her getting tired, slower, Iron Lad’s blasts almost hit her twice “- I’ll go help Karrie” Nico says “- Stay sharp, we’ll ground him, when we do, hit him with everything you have” She tells Molly and flies off, in any other circumstances, Nico would have avoided letting Molly fight, she knows better than to do so right now though, they all need to work together this time and Molly probably just would tell her off anyway.

 

Nico catch up with Karolina just in time, she managed to put up a shield to defend herself from Iron Lad’s attacks, but it will not last much longer. Nico flies over them ready to cast her spell “- **HELLICARRIER ENGINE!”** Nico shouts, you see, Nico’s magic is weird, well, all magic is weird, but for Nico is a weirder mixture of intent, ability, power and word play. Many of her spells had the same effect, flying for example, before her power was, forcefully, enhanced, she had to rely on spells to fly, she has invoked levitation, a pair of wings, a jetpack, but the effect was the same, flight. So, it’s not like the Staff of One can’t produce the same result twice, it’s only that it needs different ways to invoke it.

 

Nico’s taste for medical books came as her necessity to have an abundance of healing spells, but for a long time she couldn’t find anything useful to prepare for some more offensive spells. The answer to that was provided by one of Chase’s engineering books, she caught a glimpse of it one day she was on cleaning duty, the picture of some sort of functional propulsion device, Nico thought it looked cool and was sure she could replicate it with a spell, since then engineering books and videos provided a new repertoire of spells.  Like now, she wanted to send Iron Lad to the ground? What better solution than to use the full thrust of a SHIELD’S Hellicarrier turbine.

 

The effect of the spell is immediate, a thunderous sound cracks above Iron Lad and he plummets to the ground, Nico Thinks, only for a moment, that her spell was a little excessive, the moment passes quickly when she remembers what her attacker did to Chase. The sheer continuous force of her spell, akin to the effects of a real turbine, keeps Iron Lad pinned to the ground, allowing them a moment of respite “- You okay?” Nico asks Karolina.

 

“- Yeah, thanks” Karolina answers catching her breath. She looks completely winded, facing a powerful villain takes its toll.

 

“- Let’s help Molly” Nico says and flies back down, Karolina in tow.

 

The sound from Nico’s spell begins to subside, indicating that it’s effects are about to disappear. The spell gets weak enough to let Iron lad move.

 

“- Enough!” Iron Lad shouts, he extends his arms and a pulse of energy comes out of his entire body, dissipating the remaining of Nico’s spell.

 

Karolina fires two more shots at him but Iron Lad saw them coming from afar, he deflects them with ease, Nico prepares another spell but it’s unnecessary, for once, both Molly and Old Lace do as they’re told, now that Iron Lad is on the ground they rush to meet him. Lace, naturally, gets to him first, she launches at him, claws first, catching his arm between her jaws, the impact is strong but his battle suit holds, with his free arm he shots at Lace twice, barely missing, then, the dinosaur uses the claw from her hind leg to slash at his torso.

 

There’s an explosion of sparks where Lace is fighting Iron lad, Nico wants Lace to get away so she can attack him again, but Lace is relentless.

 

“- Get away!” Iron Lad shouts, he grabs Lace with his free hand and yanks her off from him with such force that sends her flying several feet away, that would normally be bad news if not from the fact that Lace was able to take a few pieces of Iron Lad’s armor with her. Nico can see his whole right arm being exposed as well as several inches of his torso.

 

Where Old Lace’s effectiveness was a surprise (did someone put her on steroids or something?) Molly’s is not; she runs straight to Iron Lad taking advantage of his weakened state, her training paid off when she throws a powerful punch straight to his chest, another explosion of sparks, more pieces of his armor come off and Iron Lad is sent flying off, crashing on a big three nearby.

 

Nico and Karolina finally rejoin Molly, Old Lace does the same, spreading in a wide fan trying to cover as much angles of attack as they can. Nico starts to feel real good about themselves, they might have a chance to win this.

 

A thousand thoughts are running throughs Nico’s mind, though, wondering about this whole Iron Lad situation, there are a lot of questions she might never get the answer for, what does he want with them? Why is he attacking? How did he find them just right now?

 

Nico’s previous surge of confidence commence to evaporate when she see’s Iron Lad’s armor begin to repair itself “ _Nanotech”_ Nico thinks, of course, it couldn’t be that easy, it is, after all, an armor from the far future, it’s capabilities are well and beyond of anything even Chase can imagine.

 

Still, Iron Lad’s demeanor changes drastically, at first, when he shot at Gert and Chase, he was cocky, almost dismissive, then, when fighting Karolina he seemed like he was surprised this wasn’t going his way but still confident, now that he’s facing the whole Runaways, and took a taste of their combined abilities, his body language screams caution, whatever he was expecting, Nico is sure he’s getting a whole lot more.

 

Nico is not about to get overconfident, if his armor can repair itself, who knows what that thing is capable of? Heat seeking personal missiles, EMP’s, force shields, magic negating devices, nothing is beyond the realm of possibilities—

 

The attack comes not in the way any of them expected, that is clear, Iron Lad takes flight again, keeping close to the ground making a big U to avoid them and going again after Gert and Chase.

 

Karolina is the only one to react fast enough, she launches in his pursuit trying to keep as close as possible, she manages to deflect another shot that clearly was aimed at Gert by putting up another barrier. Iron Lad deaccelerates momentarily and gains altitude to avoid colliding with Karolina’s barrier and to look for another angle to attack.

 

Chase takes the opportunity given by Karolina and fires his fistagons, he has been tweaking with the damned things so they’re not as useless as before, but he can’t aim for shit, or maybe the fistagons are poorly calibrated to begin with, either way, Chase’s shot connects with one of Iron Lad’s leg instead of his chest.

 

The impact sends him crashing down wildly to ground, but even then, he gets ups and still gets closer to Gert. Iron Lad uses some sort of energy beam to lift a huge boulder nearby and throws it at Gert and Chase, they’re not fast enough to get out of its way in time.

 

But Nico has it covered.

 

“- **PULVERIZE!”** Nico’s spell grinds the boulder instantly, the only thing that manages to reach Gert and Chase is a fine layer of dust, the only effect from it is that they’ll need a through bath afterwards, if there is an afterwards.

 

Nico was preparing to defend herself after, once again, spoiling Iron Lad’s attack on Gert, she should’ve known better, it is clear Gert is his objective, instead of going after Nico, Iron Lad makes another move towards Gert, his actions becoming more desperate, what the hell is going on?

 

Old Lace catches with Iron Lad again but this time he was expecting her, he dodges her attack and fires an electric charge that incapacitates Lace. In the commotion, Gert helps Chase get up and drags him out of Iron Lad’s reach, Molly meets them halfway and helps them get into relative safety behind Nico and Karolina.

 

Nico points her Staff at Iron Lad “- Had enough? You can still go away in one piece” She says at him.

 

“- You’re tough, Pride, I give you that” Iron Lad says “- But this is well beyond your loyalties”

 

Nico looks at Karolina beside her and nods, all their communication has become nonverbal at this point.

 

The moment Karolina takes flight, looking for an opening to attack, Nico conjures a new spell “- **KNOCKBACK”** Her Staff glows and wave of concussion force hits Iron Lad square in the face, it’s not enough to really hurt him, of course, but it gets him out of balance.

 

Karolina takes her shot and fires a massive blast towards Iron Lad, pinning him to the ground.

 

In every fight she’s been, Nico always tries to have the last word, both figuratively and literally, her magic can, and has, ended a lot of fights in the past. And she can end this one too, she has the perfect spell for it, another one of those concepts she read somewhere in Chase’s books “- **ENTROPY!** ” Nico shouts.

 

The spell takes everything Nico and the Staff have, but it’s effective, her intent was to incapacitate Iron Lad’s armor, and it does, being nanotech based, his armor begins to peel off in chunks, some of the pieces disintegrating like sand. She did it! Without the armor, not even Kang the Conqueror is that dangerous, now they only need to know what was this all about and find a way to send him back from whenever he came from.

 

Nico collapses, one knee to the ground, the Staff of one inert at her side, the damned thing drained of power, waiting for Nico to fall asleep to reenter her body. With a grunt, Nico rises from the ground ready to interrogate Iron Lad. Except, it isn’t Iron Lad, without the armor she can see the face behind the helmet and recognizes him immediately, they all do in fact, it’s a face the Runaways see every morning when they go for breakfast and every night before going to bed, one they have helped countless times to be attached to a Roomba to help them clean the Hostel, or plug into their Wii to play Mario Kart. Victor.

 

It’s not really Victor, not exactly, the man in front of them looks older of course, his expression a lot colder, still, the most upsetting part are his eyes, they look the same, caring, even warm.

 

“- Victorious…” Nico whispers, she, more than anyone else alive, knows what the future evil version of Victor Mancha is capable of, how powerful he is, how ruthless, how he killed every last hero on earth; she remembers it all, vividly, only that they’re not her memories, they are a dead woman’s memories, future Gert came to them years ago to prevent the exact person in front of her.

 

Nico is not fast enough, nobody is, Victorious punches the ground and sends the same kind of electric charges that Victor used when he had a body to hold down an opponent, it’s incapacitating, and very effective.

 

“- You are so lucky I didn’t come her to kill you all” Victorious says.

 

None of them can move, least of all Nico, and even if she could, what difference would it make? The Staff is drained, she has no power, all she can do is watch as Victorious walks towards Gert. Victorious stops a few feet from Nico and looks down at her “- If it makes any difference, I’m actually saving the universe” His voice sound almost repentant

 

In the commotion, Nico didn’t hear the approaching car, and given Victorious lack of reaction, neither did he.

 

Even if it was just for an instant, Nico can make out the car details, green, dented grill, in fact a lot of it is dented, she should know, she rose the dirt wall against which that car crashed.

 

A fraction of second before the car reaches Victorious at full speed, it’s occupant launches himself out from the driver’s seat carrying a duffel bag. The car’s impact is so strong it smashes Victorious against the mountain side and dissipates the effect of his attack on the Runaways, they can move again.

 

Nico throws a glance at Gert, Chase and Victor, Molly helps them get on their feet, while Karolina runs to Nico’s side “- Help him” Nico says pointing at the battered figure of Alex Wilder.

 

Karolina goes to Alex and helps him stand. It’s a surprise he can even stand, at the speed he got out of the car he must have a few broken bones at least “- Thanks, Karolina” He says.

 

Nico catches up to them “- C’mon! We gotta go!” She says “- Alex, can you move?”

 

“- Relax” Alex says while rotating her left elbow until a sickening pop sound comes out of it “- The grill and bumper of that car are pure carbonadium, that guy got split in two”

 

“- That guy is Victorious! An invincible android with self repairing capabilities, we need to go!” Nico yells at him.

 

“- In that case…” Alex pulls out a little device from his duffel bag, very similar to a regular remote control with only a button and a switch, he turns the switch and then presses the button,  a loud, but oddly enough, contained explosion comes out of the car, it’s flash is nothing like any other explosion Nico has seen, somehow it has streaks of black and blue in it. Alex must have caught on her expression “- Antimatter charge, reliable and very powerful”

 

Can this be it? Nico doesn’t think so, she takes Karolina’s hand and starts walking to the rest of her family, Alex follows them a couple of paces behind.

 

“- How can you be walking?” Karolina asks Alex.

 

“- I’m already dead” Alex shrugs “- Doesn’t mean I can’t be hurt, but I don’t feel it that much, it’s still cumbersome to wait my body to heal, though”

 

“- Molly! Everyone alright?” Nico shouts.

 

Molly gives a thumb up to Nico and tends to Chase, one of his fistagons looks broken, perhaps a side effect of Victorious attack, Gert is already on her feet and picks up Victor, Old Lace limps her way to her.

 

“- What are you doing here, Wilder?” Chase asks as soon as they are within earshot.

 

“- Saving you” Alex responds “- You’re welcome, by the way”

 

“- How did you know we needed help, Alex?” Molly asks.

 

“- I wasn’t kidding when I told you I was trying to protect you all” Alex says “- I kept monitoring time travel energy sources and came when I picked one here”

 

“- All good and all but we have to go” Nico insists.

 

“- I told you to relax, Nico, that antimatter bomb took care of him” Alex ducks and readjust his left knee with another sickening popping sound “- But I’m curious, did he have a time travel machine or something?”

 

“- Why?” Nico asks him.

 

Before Alex could answer, they all hear something coming from Alex’s car wreckage, the characteristic sound of twisting metal, the remains of the car get move aside and Victorious comes out of it, his movements are sluggish and deliberate slow, no surprise since he seems badly wounded, but his body is already repairing itself.

 

“- Uhmm, any other thing in that bag of yours that might blow him to pieces, Wilder?” Chase asks.

 

“- If an antimatter bomb didn’t kill him? Not really” Alex pulls a large weird looking rifle, looks more like a high tech bazooka “- But I might as well try” He opens it from the side and slides in a round the size of a grenade.

 

Alex shoots and hits Victorious square in the chest, it damages him but it’s certainly not as effective. He reloads his weapon.

 

“- What do we do, Nico?” Chase asks.

 

Nico has no idea.  The best she’s coming up with is a teletransportation spell that, maybe, if she’s careful and lucky enough, can take everyone to safety, again, it may not be that useful, Victorious armor is also repairing itself, albeit a lot slower thanks to Nico’s spell, and if that thing gets operational again Victorious would be able to follow them wherever they go. But what if Nico can transport them in the middle of the Avengers tower? or Wakanda? Somewhere they can get help, but then again, what if that’s what Victorious wants? All the Runaways know that, if Victorious come to pass, he will be powerful enough to kill every hero on the planet, but he doesn’t seem that powerful now, what other choice Nico has?

 

“- Guys, I think I have an idea”

 

Everyone turns their head to Victor, even Alex, although only for a moment since he keeps his assault on Victorious, this time with a pulse rifle that seems to have a better effect. Karolina joins him with a blast of her own, their combined attacks are the only thing giving them time.

 

“- If he’s me, he probably has the same weaknesses” Victor says “- We’re gonna need vibranium”

 

Nobody says anything else, but Nico can feel their eyes on her. She can’t move again; her shoulders begin to ache from sheer tension and the figurative weight of everyone’s lives. From the corner of her eye she sees Karolina hurrying towards her.

 

“- Nico, can you make vibranium?” Karolina asks.

 

No. Absolutely not. She can’t do that, she has no spell that can even begin to come close, she’s not powerful enough. It’s impossible. Her friends are wasting their fate on a fool’s errand, there’s, simply put, no way in the world Nico can— “- I can” Nico says.

 

“- Good, having vibranium won’t be enough, we need to supercharge it, it’s a complicated process but I’ll walk you through” Victor says.

 

Great, just what Nico needed, more processes, more spells, more pressure – “- I’m gonna need more power for that, guys, buy us some time, Lace! Come over here” Nico shouts and the dinosaur comes to her, Lace limps only slightly.

 

This is the part that Nico particularly hates, she takes Lace fore limb and uses one of the claws to slash at her own forearm, it’s more than the little cuts she’s used to but big enough for a steady stream of red blood running down her arm onto the handle of her Staff.

 

While Nico didn’t even flinch (at least this time) the rest of them looked at her in alarm, particularly Karolina, but this is not the time for distractions. There’s no indication but Nico can feel the Staff regaining power with every droplet of blood “- **NO MORE LIMP”** She points the Staff at Old Lace’s leg and the dinosaur jumps in surprise, jumps being the key, her spell worked, the Staff of one is charged once again.

 

“- Vic and I have this, I just need some time, go stall him, and whatever you do, protect Gert!” Nico yells at, well, no one in particular, but they all nod, even Alex.

 

“- You all herd Nico” Alex says, he begins barking orders “- Karolina, take the sky, draw as much heat as you can and keep him guessing, Old Lace and Molly, attack him in turns and retreat immediately, Molly, throw whatever you can at him, rocks, threes, whatever you can find, throw him out of balance, Chase, I want you as far as you can from me, we’re grounded so we need to avoid being easy targets, Gert, you’re with me “ Alex grabs another weird looking gun from his bag and hands it to Gert, both the weapon and the bag “- Your main function is handing me ammo but when I don’t shoot, you shoot, got it? And stay behind ma at all times”

 

“- Wilder…” Chase steps towards him menacingly.

 

“- I’m the perfect meat shield” Alex says “- I’m already dead, if he shoots me, it will hurt, but I can’t die, I’ll keep Gert safe”

 

“- You better” Chase says and runs towards Victorious charging his fistagons.

 

“- Stay safe” Nico says and shares a look with Karolina, silently promising that this will not be the last time they see each other.

 

The rest of the Runaways go in the field and begin their assault on Victorious whose body is recuperating in an alarmingly fast rate, he’s practically fully recovered and is able to fend most of their attacks.

 

If Nico can make this little miracle happen she will need to concentrate, as much as it pains her, her family will have to fight without her and she needs to pay them as little mind as possible “- **Under the dome”** Nico conjures and a small dome, barely the size of a medium room appears cutting Nico and Victor from the outer world, no sound coming in but the dome is translucent, Nico wants to be able to see and go help if the need arise.

 

Nico places Victor on the ground “- Alright, tell me what to do” She says.

 

“- You might want to patch yourself” Victor says.

 

“- No, I’m gonna need every ounce of power I can get” Nico says and lets more blood fall onto the Staff, somehow, she knows that the steady flow of blood is what she will require to pull this off.

 

“- Alright, then, the vibranium first, Nico” Victor says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

 

Victor’s tone annoys Nico but he’s right “- Alright” Nico says, for a few seconds she doesn’t move, Nico is certain she can’t just conjure up vibranium out of thin air.

 

Nico raises her Staff “- **Bring vibranium** ” She commands the Staff. Nothing happens.

 

“- Nico?” Victor asks.

 

A muffled explosion is felt even through Nico’s dome, she really wants to see but any distraction means she waste precious seconds.

 

“- They’re fine” Victor tells her.

 

Nico nods. The previous spell didn’t work, her intent was to bring vibranium form other place on earth, but there’s a certainty in her mind, some presence telling her that she needs to know where the vibranium is before she can bring it to her “- I need to know where to get the vibranium, I can’t just make some of it appear” Nico says out loud for some reason, providing Victor with an explanation he didn’t asked for.

 

There is only one place on the whole planet Nico knows vibranium is held “- **Vibranium from Wakanda** ”

 

This time the Staff does something, a spiral of light forms around it, Nico feels the familiar pull of the spell working, the loud hum form the Staff, then, there’s a burst of black light and she feels some foreign, strange magic gripping at her “- No!” Nico yells and she’s sent crashing against the dome wall.

 

“- Nico!” Victor shouts.

 

“- I’m fine” Nico answers, she gets up slowly, barely keeping herself conscious, a good thing too, if that would’ve been the case her dome would have disappeared.

 

“- What happened?!” Victor asks.

 

“- A protection spell” Nico says “- My own spell was working and then, something countered it, there must be some kind of magic protecting Wakanda’s vibranium reserves”

 

An energy blast impacts the dome right where Nico is standing, she can’t help but look outside. Alex is kneeling down clutching at his chest, Gert at his side, desperately trying to making him move, she can’t see Chase nor Molly, Victorious, now fully reconstructed, launches himself after Karolina who manages to build a barrier to protect herself, Old Lace brings him down catching him in midair, both of them hitting the ground hard, someone else shoots at Victorious - -

 

Nico avoids looking any longer, if she wants to help her friends, she needs to nail this spell, she needs information “- Victor, do you know anywhere else where they have vibranium?” Nico asks, she’s already racking her brain for a new spell to bring some to her.

 

“- The avengers had some artifacts, but it’s most likely they have as much protection as Wakanda does”

 

“- Anywhere else on the planet?!”

 

“- N-No” Victor stammers “- There were some reserves in the Antarctica but those were depleted long ago, who knows where they are, hell, vibranium is not even an Earth element, it’s from outer space- -“

 

“- That’s it!” Nico exclaims “- I know where there’s more”

 

Nico concentrates, she lets some extra blood drip on the Staff. She does know where to find more vibranium, she read the report about it, an old mission of Captain Marvel in the days she left the planet, Carol herself told her about it too, a planet with a vast mine of vibranium that she had to burry deep underground to protect a whole colony of refugees, if this works she will owe Captain Marvel big time.

 

“- **VIBRANIUM FROM TORFA!** ” The Staff of One glows,  a surge of lights appear in midair, despite the very similar incantation, the spell works, Nico can feel it, but there is something different, it’s taking more time than it would normally do for one and two is beginning to rapidly drain the Staff’s power “- C’mon, you piece of crap!” Nico shouts.

 

Finally, a portal opens and big chunk of metal the size of a small desk falls on the ground.  She did it. Nico falls on one knee.

 

“- Great! Now we only have to charge it” Victor says

 

“- What!?” Nico asks.

 

“- We can’t use it like this, if we don’t charge it we only have a very strong piece of metal”

 

“- What do I need to do?”

 

“- It’s complicated, it would be faster if you can read my mind or something” Victor says.

 

Nico doesn’t waste any time, she points the Staff at Victor and says “- **Mind Link** ” Now Victor can direct her without delay, most of his previous knowledge about vibranium is available to Nico. She needs to hurry up, the sounds from the fight outside reach a new crescendo.

 

For a second, Nico stops, she shares a look with Victor “- You don’t have enough power” Victor states.

 

So, the mind link works both ways, while Nico has access to Victor’s knowledge, Victor has a glimpse of whatever the Staff communicates with Nico; and she has the certainty she can’t charge up a big chunk of vibranium. Not in her state at least, there is a way, though.

 

“- Nico…”

 

“- **Scalpel”**

 

Nico has been able to understand what happened to her in Murderworld albeit in a limited fashion. Never in her life was she so powerful as the moment she came back after Apex attack, and she’s never been as powerful after. Long ago she figured out that it was the amount of blood she lost that day that powered up her Staff, and Nico herself, to levels she never knew were possible, she still doesn’t know  why it happened or even what is the Staff, but the price of its power is clear, with a few drops of blood she can do things most witches and wizards can’t begin to think of, and with a lot more blood…

 

“- Nico, don’t— “ Victor can’t even finish. Nico cuts herself just below the elbow joint line of her left arm, puncturing a vein. Where the slash from Lace’s claw draw a stream of blood, this small, but precise, cut is already drenching Nico’s arm, and more importantly, the Staff of One.

 

Now the damn Staff is reacting, an intense purple glow emanates from it, Nico’s ayes glow in the same hue.

 

“- Alright, let’s do this” Nico says, she holds her Staff and touches the vibranium with its tip “- **Charge up vibranium** ” Nico invokes, the purple glow from the Staff of One touches the ore of vibranium.

 

The process works, Nico locks eyes with Victor in a silent agreement. However mere seconds passes before Nico feels the power of the Staff being drained, she needs even more power but there’s not enough blood in her body to provide it. For a solid minute, she panics, fearing that all of this is futile, and she failed again.

 

Nico commits another mistake, in her panic she seeks for a source of comfort, she averts her eyes from the ore and looks for Karolina.

 

The battle outside the dome grows ill for the Runaways, now, Victorious armor is almost completely restored. Chase is on his knees, clutching at his side again, he fires a shot his remaining operational fistagon, it’s a powerful shot, Nico can hear the booming sound coming out of it but Victorious deflects it all the same, he knocks Chase out with an electric attack, Old lace is nowhere near to be found, Nico fears the worst, then she spots Gert and Alex a hundred feet away from the fight, she has her arm around him and tries to drag him away as fast as she can, it’s useless, though, Victorious spots them, Alex raises his weapon and fires at him but his aim is askew, missing his target by a far.

 

Nico’s heart stops for a full second when Victorious shots at Gert again, this time is Alex who saves her guarding her with his own body taking the full force of the attack, he might be dead already but that sure hurt him, Alex falls to the ground and stops moving, leaving Gert vulnerable for another attack, she picks up Alex weapon and fires another round but Victorious takes it like it was nothing.

 

Karolina comes out of nowhere flying towards the fight carrying Molly and helping her gain momentum. She lets Molly go on the ground and goes to tend to Alex and Gert while Molly runs full speed at Victorious, she jumps and throws a massive punch at him, he blocks it but Molly at full power is simply too much for almost anyone to handle, Victorious falls to the ground, pieces of his armor flying off, Molly doesn’t stop, if this same fight would have happened a few years from now it wouldn’t be much of a fight to begin with, Molly is too powerful, but her current physique can’t withstand the effort any more, she lands two more devastating punches before the strain gets to her, she is getting tired quickly, her movements slower, she throws a kick but it never reaches her target, Victorious blocks the kick and throws Molly away, she falls to the ground already unconscious.

 

Karolina is the only one left that can face Victorious, she stands between him and Gert, they both shoot at each other trying to gain the upper hand, for the moment, Karolina can match his attacker blast but she won’t last much longer, this is bad, time is running out and Nico is nowhere near to finish the spell, this is a waste of time, she needs to go out and fight to save her family--

 

“- Try to borrow power from somewhere else!” Victor yells at her, their minds are still connected.

 

Victor suggestion makes a lot of sense, maybe Nico’s power is not enough but there are places, entities, where it can come from, it’s a very risky move, from what Nico has read, she potentially could take power from anywhere she damn pleases, from the Dark Dimension to the Crimson Cosmos of Cyttorak, but who knows what consequences that would have? she could bring Dormammu itself into this world, so, no, that is out of the question; but she knows a place, a realm that should be vacant and ripe with power.

 

“- **Channel Slumber Realm!** ” Nico shouts.

 

Nico’s original spell gets amplified by a thousand, a surge of pure magical energy flows through her and into the vibranium. For the first time since the fight begun, Nico is elated, she even smiles, no matter the blood loss, the remnants of the initial shock, the lingering fear or the exhaustion, the raw power at her disposal makes everything seem simpler, easier, smaller, this fight is already over.

 

The ore of vibranium hums and emits in a faint green and bluish glow “- That’s it! It’s ready, Nico!” Victor shouts.

 

With a wave of her hand Nico dispels the dome, she touches the vibranium with her Staff again.

“- Karolina!” Nico shouts “- Clear!”

 

Karolina sends a final wave of power toward Victorious causing an explosion where their blasts met, she takes the opportunity to look behind her and clear off from Nico’s view.

 

“- **VIBRANIUM FLECHETTES!** ” With her spell, Nico tore a few chunks off of the vibranium ore and send them flying at top speed at Victorious, splitting midway into several dart like pieces.

 

Victorious reacts on time and activates a force field in front of him to stop Nico’s attack, but no force field known to any civilization is a match for charged up vibranium; the flechettes go through it like it wasn’t even there and embed into Victorious body, some of them even pass through it completely.

 

It all ends quickly. At first, Victorious seemed unfazed until the vibranium discharges a pulse of energy, then he screams in pain and falls to the ground, he tries to stand again only to be sent down again by another pulse. There’s again that voice only Nico can hear telling her she can manipulate the energy discharges with her Staff, she gives him a couple more just to be sure he will stand down.

 

Nico floats towards Karolina, Gert is already helping Alex to stand up. Now that Nico is up close, she can see a huge portion of his torso is badly burnt and his shirt and jacket are falling to pieces “- Everyone alright?” Nico asks, she only waits for a moment until everyone nods “- Gert, go check everyone else, Karolina, bring the first aid kit from the living room, I’ll deal with our unwanted guest”

 

Nico doesn’t wait for any other response, she hurries herself towards Victorious, keeping him down with more vibranium discharges. She doesn’t register her own blood dripping down her left arm, or the unusual lack of pain from her wound, the eerie quietness of her surroundings, in the back of her mind she knows that she should be, at least, in pain, maybe a little delirious from the blood loss, or that she has other people to tend to, or maybe that even Victorious is saying something; Nico doesn’t care, her only focus is eliminating any threats to her family.

 

Nico clutches her Staff and sends wave after wave of energy through Victorious body, she’s had enough of it all; enough paralyzing fear and crippling doubt (and literal crippling) and heart breaking and loss and pain, not only hers, but her family’s. Now it’s the time for a reckoning in blood, Nico will make sure that not only Victorious, but any other future villains, pay with their lives if they lay as much as a finger on Nico or any of her friends.

 

“- Nico” Nico hears her name being called from… somewhere, maybe it’s close or not, who knows, all Nico care is making Victorious suffer.

 

“- Nico” There’s that voice again, she thinks she recognizes it, there is a familiar tone in it. Nico sands another wave of power.

 

“- Nico” Whoever is calling her should really stop, Nico finally comes up with a killing spell, one that can eliminate all trace of Victorious from the earth. She got it, Nico rises the Staff of One and commences her incantation “- **Sunb—** "

 

“- Nico, enough!” Somebody yells at her and, suddenly, there’s a hand on Nico’s left arm pushing it back down, she turns in anger only to find Karolina’s gaze. Karolina, her girlfriend, the woman she loves, her Karrie. Nico lowers her eyes to where Karolina is touching her and notices she is pressing a bandage on the place she had to cut herself, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

 

Karolina has a sobering effect on Nico, now she is aware she was hovering one feet off the ground, she was emanating a purple glow all over her body, she also notices Victorious hunched over, incapacitated on the ground, unable to move, gasping. Nico turns her head a few times looking for the rest of them, Gert is carrying Victor and serves as support for Chase to walk, he clearly has some kind of injury on his leg, then she sees Molly helping Old Lace, the dinosaur seems fine but she’s limping with the same leg as Chase, her psychic link is still strong. Finally, Nico looks at Karolina, she looks beaten and she is no longer in her Majesdane form, some patches of her clothes look burned and there are some cuts and bruises all over her body. Now that Nico thinks about it, they all have different levels of cuts and bruises, the most severe ones from Alex, who must lean on Molly to walk (Molly’s super strength is a blessing since she has no problem helping both Alex and Old Lace) Nico lets herself relax a little and gets back down to the floor, her purple glow fades out.

 

“- We have to stop the bleeding” Karolina tells her and presses a fresh bandage on her wounded arm.

 

“- Keep the pressure up, Karolina” Alex says, he, slowly, approaches to where she is and uses a stapler looking device to stitch Nico’s arm and another bandage to wrap it up, in no time her arm is bandaged, and the bleeding contained. There was pain when Alex closed her wound, but Nico didn’t even mind it.

 

“- Are you okay?” Karolina asks her.

 

“- Y—yes” Nico says, her head getting clearer now.

 

Alex asks Molly to retrieve his bag and gives her instructions on how to use the array of basic field dressing supplies in it.

 

“- What are we going to do with him?” Gert asks pointing at the fallen Victorious while applying some sort of gel on Alex and Chase’s wounds.

 

“- He’s beaten” Victor says “- Seems like he’s like me so, a single discharge of vibranium energy would knock his powers out for days, he’s harmless now”

 

“- We need answers” Nico says and moves towards Victorious.

 

“- Nico… no” Karolina pleads with her.

 

It breaks Nico’s heart to see Karolina so worried not only about her but about what she might do “- It’s fine, Karrie, I—I just lost control for a moment, I’m fine now”

 

“- Are you sure?” Karolina asks again.

 

“- I am” Nico answers “- Let’s see what Victorious has to say”

 

They all turn to Victorious who is still down but managed to sit up on the ground his head hanging low, every bit of fight and strength drained of him.

 

“- All right, Victorious, we know who you are” Chase says “-  And your world domination plan is over, so spill it, why did you want Gert dead?”

 

At Victorious lack of response Nico clutches the Staff of One and sends a little chare of energy, nothing serious, just enough to get his attention.

 

“- What are you talking about?” Victorious says “- I came here to save the world not take over it, and my name is Victor”

 

Nico shares a look with Chase, then, she says “- What do you mean with _saving the world_? What does killing Gert has to do with it?”

 

“- What does it matter?” Victorious, or rather, Victor says “- I failed, and you get to gloat about it, Pride”

 

“- We are not the Pride” Nico hurries to say.

 

“- You’re not—?” Future Victor says “- Then there’s still time, listen—” He tries to stand up but a new wave of energy sends him crashing down “- Please!—Listen to me!” He begs.

 

“- Nico!” Karolina exclaims.

 

“- Fine” Nico says and ceases her attack “- Alright _Victor,_ since you’re not Victorious, from what year you’re from?”

 

“- Ten years from now, give or take a few weeks, but listen—”

 

“- We’ll make the questions here” Nico interjects “- First things first, you say you’re here to save the world?”

 

“- Yes” Future Victor says.

 

“- And for that you need to kill me!?” Gert asks.

 

“- Yes”

 

“- Why?!” Chase asks.

 

“- It’s complicated”

 

Future Victor’s answer is received with a chorus of disappointed sighs.

 

“- Okay, well, what are you saving the world from?” Karolina asks.

 

“- It’s complicated”

 

“- Okay” Nico pinches the bridge of her nose “- What can you explain?”

 

“- It will be easier if I show you” Future Victor’s left forearm opens up revealing a little cube inside it, he takes it out, but he’s stopped by Nico.

 

“- Don’t move, asshole! What the hell is that?” Nico asks.

 

“- It’s just a projector” Future Victor says and presses a button on it, true to his word the projector activates.

 

What Nico sees in the projection is herself, well, not exactly, it is her in the recording only slightly older, she does look like from ten years into the future, she’s basically the same with only some minor differences, her hair is shorter for one and her stare is a lot colder, then the future Nico takes a step back allowing the video to show a room full of high tech equipment, and present Nico’s stomach takes a flip, her future self has a witch arm, again, but this time is her right arm that is missing.

 

The other thing that catches Nico’s attention is Karolina, the one from the future is also in the room, she’s still basically a goddess of course but her lights are completely different, where present Karolina’s emit a soothing constant stream of light, future Karolina is almost like a star ready to burst her power barely contained; but the most disturbing thing of all is their outfits, she recognizes immediately the red and black robe future Nico is wearing or the black and grey cat suit of future Karolina, they’re a more stylized version of the original Pride’s garments.

 

“ _Vic, do you hear me? Blink if you can hear me”_ Future Nico says and then the camera blinks a couple times indicating that what they are watching was recorded by Victor’s eyes.

 

“ _We don’t have much time, they’re coming through”_ Future Karolina says.

 

“ _Right, listen, Vic, don’t try to talk, you’re not fully repaired, but we’re desperate”_ Future Nico says “ _We’re sending you into the past, the armor you’re wearing has time travel technology and will help you heal, you have to take Gert out of the timeline, kill her if it’s necessary”_

_“Nico—”_ Future Karolina turns to a screen and pats Nico on the shoulder, a loud explosion is heard in the background “ _They got past Chase”_

Future Nico whips out the Staff of One (without the need to draw blood mind you) and says, “ _I’ll put on a force field, you finish briefing him”_ She then goes to a corner of the room and chants something unintelligible, a force field covering them forms shortly after.

 

Future Karolina steps in front of Victor, looking straight into his eyes “ _Vic, find us, I’m uploading every bit of info we have into your brain, locations, known whereabouts, aliases, the works. This is important, Gert is responsible of this, if nothing else is possible, just kill her, we can’t let this happen”_

A series of explosions can be heard making future Karolina to pause; the camera shakes, or rather, Vic’s body does, they’re clearly under attack, from who or what? Who knows.

 

“ _You’ll arrive ten years before now”_ Future Karolina continues “ _If everything goes right you’ll have plenty of time to track us down, we were—in disarray back then, so she should be an easy target, but if we’re all together again, if The Pride is reunited… there’s gonna be a fight, there’s no way they let you take Gert, and we were powerful even back then—_

_“Karrie!”_ Future Nico yells before her force field vanishes, there’s another loud sound, not unlike a cannon and something the size of a spear flies towards her and impales her stomach, still, future Nico manages to cast one more spell to defend herself but two more of the huge sharp objects hits her piercing her in the hip and chest.

 

“ _Nico!”_ Future Karolina shouts “ _Shit, go! Just go, Victor!”_ She presses a button from a side panel and a faint glow and humming sound start coming from Victor’s armor; the last thing the video shows is future Karolina running to Nico’s side, holding her in her arms and manage to fire an enormous blast before she herself gets shred to pieces by more of those weird looking things that killed Nico a moment ago, then there’s a flash of white light and the video stops.

 

Nobody says anything but they’re all in different levels of shock, Karolina managed to turn to Molly trying to cover her eyes when the most gruesome part of the video played, she doesn’t know if she succeeded because Molly is beyond pale and doesn’t move; Victor, future Victor that is, barely manages to sit down without collapsing and puts back the projector into his arm, he starts pulling out a vibranium flechette from his body.

 

“- Hey! Stop that!” Nico yells.

 

“- He’s harmless , Nico” Karolina tells her.

 

Nico relaxes and allows future Vic to take out a couple more vibranium flechettes, the ones that bothered him the most surely. It’s a lot to take in for Nico, and to everyone else most likely. She has a complicated relationship with seeing the future, it’s never a good idea to know too much about it, and in the sparse minutes that the video showed, Nico saw way too many disturbing things, yes, her own very violent death for one, and Karrie’s too, but she feels weirdly detached from it, perhaps the most shocking bit of knowledge she got is that they’re villains in the near future, they took their parents mantle, they reformed The Pride. Is that it? No matter what she does now, will she become a super villain in the end?  

 

“- What were those things?” Alex asks “- What attacked you?”

 

“- Aliens, I think” Future Victor answers.

 

“- Were they kree, chitauri?” Alex tries again.

 

“- I really don’t know”

 

“- How is that possible? Didn’t you fight them?”

 

“- I was out of commission for a long while, I was almost destroyed in a previous fight, my memory banks were badly damaged, I don’t remember much”

 

“- What do you remember?” Chase asks this time.

 

“- I remember there was some sort of, invasion I suppose, I don’t know from exactly who, but our enemies were too powerful, the entire planet was at war. We, The Pride I mean, made a temporary truce with the West Coast Avengers to try to liberate California and parts of Mexico, I remember going into a mission then and I got myself blown apart, the video I just showed you is the first thing I saw when I woke up”

 

West Coast Avengers, The Pride. Nico sighs thinking that in the future she is at odds with her friends from today, what changed? She can’t stop thinking about Kate and America, if they’re the same group, what made them her enemies?

 

“- Alright” Nico says “- Then what’s Gert got to do with anything?”

 

Future Vic shakes his head “- I only have bits of information, the Karolina of my time tried to upload as much information as she could but, well, you saw the video. We learned that the invasion I told you about was from a civilization that wipes out entire races when those races become a danger for the universe”

 

“- What do you mean?” Nico asks.

 

“- Apparently, we humans abused our capacity for time travel, we used it so much we were on the edge of breaking reality, when Gert was saved an irreparable hole in the time stream was formed, hence the invasion and the destruction of the entire human race”

 

“- Why Gert?” Chase asks.

 

Future Victor shrugs “- I don’t know, I don’t have the whole data, I only know that your future self” He points at Chase “- calculated that it was your own actions, removing Gert from the original time stream, those two years of time without her, that created a catastrophic entropy effect on time itself”

 

“- Entropy effect?” Molly asks.

 

“- It’s technical” Future Victor answers.

 

“- Think of time like a pool, Molls” Present Victor says “- Imagine you have a bucket and fill it with water from that pool, when you pull the bucket out it’s no big deal because more water flow and replace it without much turbulence, but if you take out a lot more water with, for example an excavator, then there’s turbulence, the water fights to fill the empty space and fundamentally changes the physiognomy of the pool”

 

“- That is ridiculous!” Gert exclaims “- Why me being here matters? I don’t have powers, I’m not super smart, I don’t matter, I’m a nobody”

 

“- Obviously you’re not, you’re the key to humanity’s survival” Future Victor says.

 

“- So, what now?” Alex asks.

 

“- We can still save everyone—” Future Victor says.

 

“- You’re not hurting Gert!” Chase steps between Gert and Victor.

 

“- There are other ways—” Victor says “- We could restart the timeline”

 

 “- If there was a peaceful way to solve this, why didn’t you tell us instead of attacking!” Nico reproaches him.

 

Again, future Victor shakes his head, he looks at Nico and says “- Because it requires to split you up”

 

“- What?” Karolina asks.

 

“- The Nico and Karolina of my time were known to be intensely loyal and protective of both each other and the rest of us” Future Victor says.

 

Nico can’t help herself, there’s a rush of pride and love in Victor’s words “- Uh, we were still together then?”

 

“- Oh, yes, your marriage was respected and feared throughout the galaxy”

 

And that’s just a lot of mixed feelings for Nico, everything she hears fills her with dread with every passing second, she fears for her and her family and the whole damn planet, and to think that she had a hand in the massacre of billions… she understands Karolina a little better… but also, look, Nico is soft, alright? There’s a part of her that relishes in knowing she and Karrie not only managed to stay together but also married at some point, and them being respected and feared… she allows herself a bit of pride at that. Still, there are a lot of questions in need of answer.

 

“- Alright, wait a second” Nico says “- That doesn’t make any sense, what Karolina and I being married has to do with anything? Why is that an excuse to try to kill Gert? Why didn’t you just talk to us in the first place?!”

 

Future Victor groans and runs a hand through his hair in exasperation “- Restarting the timeline means Gert has to come back to the moment she was taken from, using my former self’s pool analogy, right now there is an enormous gap in the time/pool, bringing Gert back to that point will refill it and undo any damage to time, while killing her would prevent more damage, the former option is preferable”

 

“- Then let’s do it, why is it even a question?” Chase says.

 

“- It will mean this present won’t even exist, your current selves would be deleted, and memories forgotten, all you have done up until now will be lost”

 

“- So… Karrie and I—” Nico states

 

“- Won’t be together”

 

That’s the catch, of course, the price for saving humanity is giving up everything Nico loves. And the weird thing is, she actually likes a lot about her life right now, it’s not perfect, but she has so much to fight for now, her family of course, but also she is kind of in a good place with the whole super hero thing, and she has good friends  like Kate and America and the whole ex Young Avengers and, most of all, Karolina, her Karrie, the reason she puts with so much in this world and gets up every morning with a smile. It will be all lost.

 

“- Karrie—” Nico, on the brim of tears, extends her hand towards Karolina; her girlfriend responds immediately and hugs Nico tightly.

 

“- I know, I know” Karolina says.

 

Nico takes comfort in Karolina’s arms, she’s not panicking yet, she still has time, there has to be other options. “- Alright, what do we do then?” Nico asks Future Victor.

 

“- It’s easy, we send Gert one minute after Chase took her, time will repair itself” Future Victor explains.

 

“- So, we use your time traveling armor? Alex asks.

 

“- No, I need it to return to my time before Gert, we don’t want more time paradoxes”

 

“- Return?” Moly asks “- Wouldn’t that kill you?”

 

Future Victor shakes his head “- No, when I go back my timeline would be changed already”

 

“- If it’s not your armor, then what will we use?” Gert asks.

 

“- You already have a time machine, that was my original plan” Future Victor answers.

 

“- The time portico? That thing is busted, we don’t have a way to power it up” Gert says.

 

“- As it turns out” Present Victor interjects “- Nico just provided us with the best time traveling fuel in the galaxy”

 

“- Yes, the vibranium will be perfect” Future Victor says “- I can help you with a make shift battery, in no time, but I’ll need these spikes out of my body, it’s starting to really hurt”

 

“- No” Nico says.

 

“- I assure you, I mean you no harm, please”

 

“- Nico, please, it’s the right thing to do” Karolina says.

 

“- Fine” Nico scoffs, she raises her Staff and chants “- **Vibranium out”**

 

The vibranium flechettes imbedded on future Victor’s body move for a moment and then they yank themselves free, the process is not delicate at all and makes Victor grimace in pain, fortunately for him it’s quick.

 

“- Thank you” Future Vic says and finally stands up on unsteady legs “- Before anything else, I just want to say I’m sorry, I misjudge the situation with all of you, my memory banks are damaged, and I was working with incomplete information, but that’s no excuse. We’re still family in the future and fighting you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done”

 

“- It’s okay, we lived, I guess” Gert says.

 

The rest of the Runaways doesn’t look convinced but at least they agree to drop the hostility. They pick the vibranium, the big chunk of the metal, too heavy to be lifted manually, gets carried by future Victor’s electromagnetic abilities as well as his armor and head inside. Once in the Hostel they head to the garage where the time portico, Gert parent’s time machine rests.

 

“- I’m going to need a cubic piece of the vibranium, about the size of a quarter milk” Future Victor announces.

 

Nico provides it with another spell and hands it to Victor. The rest of the Runaways sit on the floor and begin to treat their wounds.

 

“- You all are taking this remarkably well” Victor says.

 

“- Yeah, well, comes with the territory” Nico says, much to Karolina’s dismay, she refused further treatment on her injuries, preferring to stand guard on Victor.

 

“- I’m sorry, I’m just surprised, the Nico I know would have never agreed to this, she would have leveled half the world before parting up with Karolina”

 

Nico would too if she’s honest, at least a part of her, a big part of her, wants to. And perhaps is way tothis, some loophole, something she could do to keep things the way they are, maybe a powerful enough spell can repair time itself or prevent earth’s invasion, perhaps if she commits and studies and train she can be powerful enough to defend earth when the time comes, she has access to such power, the taste she got from the Slumber Realm, the late Gibborim’s dimension , makes her think so, and maybe, well, what if there are other Gods out there that Nico can reach for power? What if her parent’s ways weren’t all that misplaced?

 

“- I know what you’re thinking” Future Victor whispers, Nico jumps slightly when she hears it “- You don’t want to leave Karolina, you want to know if there’s another way to do it, right?”

 

Nico doesn’t answer, she just stares at him.

 

Future Victor locks eyes with Nico for a moment, he then chuckles and resumes his work “- There is a way, you know?”

 

“- What is it?” Nico asks him quietly.

 

“- I can make this battery to be a bomb, just a tweak, easy, Gert gets in the time portico, activates it and boom, quick, painless. I’ll be gone by then, everyone will blame me, you go clean, you can have it all”

 

“- Why? Why do that when you said restarting the time stream is better?” Nico asks.

 

“- She left us, when the invasion came, she didn’t fight, we lost Molly and Clara and Lace in the first wave of attacks, and then she ran away, she used her time machine to escape… the math is clear and you and Karolina agreed that the best option was to restart the timeline and give her a second chance, but—” Future Victor’s frowns “- Do you want to lose everything over a person like that?!”

 

“- Just… just make the battery please” Nico says.

 

“- Fine” Future Victor says “- Tell you what, I already did it, if you change your mind, just switch these cables, this red one here and the grey one here” He says pointing to the aforementioned cables “- And presto, you have a bomb” He stands up and walk past Nico

 

“- Wait” Nico stops him grabbing his arm, she’s surprised at the advanced rate at which his body recovers after her vibranium attack “- Why are you giving me this choice? How do I know you not just made a bomb?”

 

To his credit, future Victor doesn’t flinch and even looks sincere “- I’m many things but I’m not a liar, I’m giving you the choice because your future self asked me to, check for yourself, just… quietly” He hands Nico the same projector he used earlier “- Battery is ready!” He announces and walks towards the rest of the group.

 

Nico activates the projector and sure enough, there’s her future self talking directly at Victor “ _Hey, Vic, I know you have a grudge with Gert, but please, if it comes to deciding whether restarting the rime line or not… trust  my past self, she’s every bit of the leader I’m today… crap, here comes Karrie, keep this between us, okay?”_ The video ends with future Nico winking at the camera, or rather, Victor and pressing a button on a panel, the projector shutting off.

 

Karolina catches up to her with a wet towel, she motions at her arm and starts wiping crusts of dried blood. Nico hides the projector before Karrie could see it.

 

“- Hey, are you okay? You’re looking pale” Karolina asks.

 

“- I’m fine, Karrie” Nico says “- Let’s get this over with”

 

Future Victor waits until Nico and Karolina join the group, finally, when they are all gathered, future Victor says “- This is the battery, all you have to do is plug it in that panel there” He says pointing at some of the inner wirings of the time portico, he passes the battery to Nico.

 

“- Thanks” Nico says “- You left this back there by the way” She hands him the projector and future Victor takes it with a wink.

 

“- I guess that’s it, goodbye, Pride, just change this one think, understood? Nothing else, don’t screw this up” Future Victor says. He pushes some unseen button on his wrist and the armor that Nico fought so hard to wreak come together again around him, a solid light interface opens up and activates it. There’s a humming sound and a flash of light, quite the show actually, and in he’s gone.

 

“- Alright, now that our unwanted guest is gone” Alex says still sitting on the ground bandaging some parts of his very damaged body “- I think we should discuss what we’re gonna do with the time machine”

 

“- What the hell are you talking about, Wilder?” Nico asks. She kind of saw this coming, no way Alex Wilder would pass up some form of power. Especially one so terrifying and vast as the chance to shape reality.

 

“- Well” Alex says “- We are absolutely going to fix the time line, the planet depends on it and I’m fond of living here, but why stop there? We could do so much more, we could prevent so much stuff from happening, maybe we could bring our parents back, maybe—”

 

“- You want a way to bring yourself back to life” Nico interrupts him “- That’s why you were so interested in time travel since the beginning”

 

At least Alex doesn’t bother to deny it “- Is that so bad?” Alex admits “- I fully intent on finding a way to prevent global scale annihilation, but regaining my life is also a priority, and yes, before any of you say it, I took an interest in you when I learned time travel was on the table, besides, what’s the option? Resetting the timeline? You all heard what that means”

 

“- But you heard what Victor from the future said, Alex” Karolina says “- We shouldn’t play any more with time, we could make this situation a whole lot worse, we need to restart the timeline”

 

“- And I suppose you’re a hundred percent okay with that, right? Like you don’t have anything to lose?” Alex points between Nico and Karolina.

 

Nico would have said something (particularly hurtful) but Karolina beats her to it “- Don’t you dare talk to me about what I’m about to lose! I know! Okay?!”

 

Nico steps towards Karolina and hugs her.

 

“- Perhaps…” A voice cuts the silence “- Perhaps we don’t need to do anything” Everyone turns to Gert, who until this point, was uncharacteristically quiet “- I’m not saying that creepy old Victor was lying or wrong, but, his very presence here has already changed things, right? That’s why he hasn’t come back, is it not? His presence here already changed everything, no matter what we chose right now”

 

“- Gert—” Chase begins but he’s interrupted.

 

“- No, listen” Gert continues “- I’m not saying let humanity die or whatever, but, now we know something’s coming, we can warn everyone else, prepare, I don’t know, evacuate earth; Nico is Captain’s Marvel newest pet, we can go to her! And, damn it Alex!” She exclaims and turns to him “- If you wanted help to resituate or something, you just had to ask”

 

“- Hey, Gert—” Karolina tries with her.

 

“- You’re not listening!” Gert exclaims “None of this has to end! You think I haven’t noticed!? In the past months I’ve seen Nico smile more than ever before in her entire life! And I’ve known her since birth; Karolina shines even brighter, literally, which is amazing, but also obnoxious; I’ve seen Molly behave like a normal teenager, a normal teenager! Not some traumatized orphan kid stuck with other traumatized orphan kids living in a cave, I mean, we live in a cave, but still; Chase is always working and fixing things and studying, he’s not wasting his life away doing nothing, he’s happy even if he works in a dumpster, and Vic!” Gert focus on the aforementioned boy “- … Ok, you’re kind of messed up, Vic, and you should get some help, but my point is, are you even considering ending all of this because of me?! I’m nothing! I’m no one! I won’t let you! Maybe… maybe it’s better if I stay dead…”

 

“- No, Gert—” Chase steps forward trying to, very awkwardly, hug Gert, she pushes him off and wipe away tears.

 

“- Don’t touch me!” Gert yells swatting at Chase’s hand “- Just…just leave me alone”

 

For only a moment, and yet a moment too long, Nico thinks about Gert’s words, it would solve everything, right? Future Victor said so, if Gert isn’t here anymore that would solve all of her problems; God confound her, she even considers rigging the battery, Victor’s words ring loudly in her ears, she could get away clean out of this, everyone would blame future Vic, it would be quick, painless… “- Gert” Nico says “- Go back in time”

 

“- But, Nico—” Gert tries to object.

 

Nico turns to her friends “- Hey, guys, who thinks Gert deserves a break for a change?” Somehow, all of them, raises their hands “- And who thinks Gert should go back in time and have the life that was robbed from her?” All hands remain risen, except for Alex’s “- And who thinks maybe Gert can go back and find a way to bring Alex back to life before he gets all weird and creepy and even more evil?” The hands are still in the air, although, to be fair Nico lowered hers before.

 

“- Guys…” Now Gert is really crying, Molly is the first one to hug her, Victor didn’t have a choice since she was carrying him, Old Lace is second, Karolina and Nico are next, last is Chase, Alex stays at a respectful distance.

 

Nico breaks the hug and hands the battery to Chase “- Hey, could you install it, please”

 

“- Sure” Chase says ang gets to work, future Victor knew his way around technology, plugging the battery is quite easy, Chase got it covered in less than a minute “- Okay, it’s done”

 

“- Right, maybe you all should take a minute to… you know…” Gert says.

 

Nico nods, this is probably the most difficult thing she’s ever had to do, everything is about to be over and she needs to say goodbye to Karolina. Nico feels a hand over her shoulder and instinctively reaches for it.

 

“- Nico” Karolina’s voice is soft with the kind of tone that Nico knows means one thing only, love.

 

Nico takes a deep breath and turn. Karolina is depowered, her suppressor bracelet already on so her collection of cuts and bruises are very visible, but no amount of them can begin to hide her beauty, nor her grief.

 

“- I just want to say” Karolina says “- These past months have been the best time of my life, it’s all thanks to all of you, of course, but also, you in particular, Nico, you made me so happy, every day I woke up so excited to see you, I loved every single moment I spent with you, eve when, I don’t know, were just doing chores together or something” Karolina laughs “- God, I love you so, so much, and now I’m gonna lose you—” Karolina chokes on her words, the sobbing she was trying to fight finally breaks free, she covers her mouth with her hand and looks away from Nico.

 

Nico takes Karolina’s face between her hands, a pang of pain runs through her left arm, she wonders why for a second, only to remember the ordeal she had to endure, but none of that is important, she can only focus on one thing right now “- Karrie” Nico begins “- This is not the end, it will never be, there is no force in any universe that can keep us apart, I’ll find you again, we’ll find each other”

 

“- Nico—” Karolina sobs.

 

“- I love you, in this life and in any other, I love you” Nico leads Karolina for a kiss, one that is filled with every emotion both of them can muster, tenderness, despair, lust, longing, happiness and sadness all together, a surge of light and love and life. There is a finality to it that none of them are ready to address.

 

Nico breaks the kiss, even if it’s the last thing she want do and turn to the rest of her family “- Might as well hug me while you can” She says to everybody and Molly comes down running to hug both Karolina and her; Chase, Old Lace and even Rufus, who finally shows up and perches over Lace’s head, join too; Alex remain at a distance though, “- You too, Wilder” Nico says “- But go hug Chase or something” She adds. Alex walk by where Molly is and she, eagerly, takes him too “- We’re ready, Gert”

 

“- Thank you, guys” Gert says with teary eyes “- I swear I’ll make it up to you, I love you all” She steps inside the time portico and punches a few buttons, the machine activates emitting a light hum.

 

Everyone waves Gert goodbye, there’s a chorus of farewells and promises to see her soon.

 

Nico can’t look, she closes her eyes and huddles her head on Karrie’s neck.

 

So, yes, life changes, and change is unavoidable, sometimes, that change is unfair, one minute you have everything you ever wanted in life, and the next moment it’s all lost.

 

No, it’s not fair, the only consolation Nico has is that she will not grieve, everything will be over instantly, she won’t even feel it, which is, in its own way, even more cruel.

 

Nico clings to Karrie with all her might, trying to take as much of her as possible for as long as possible, then, with the characteristic blip of the time portico, both the machine, and reality itself as Nico knows it, vanishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry...


	8. Run Home Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter! End of the line! Series finale!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter was some sort of Last temptation of Nico, I hope I had transmitted that, even in the face of disaster, she would choose like the hero she, in the very end, became.
> 
> I didn’t want to put many notes in the last chapter, so, here are some:
> 
> Torfa is a planet in the Marvel universe where Captain Marvel helped a colony of refugees back in her comic of 2014, it’s a really fun run and I thought it would be cool to be part of the solution against Future Victor, and yes, sorry for the spoiler but the planet had vibranium.
> 
> Speaking of vibranium, it has been established that it has physical and magical properties, and with a strong enough magical charge that thing has energy generating qualities.
> 
> The Slumber Realm is the place where the Giborim dwell between their visits to earth.
> 
> The Cytorak is a magical entity in the Marvel universe, the Crimson Cosmos is where it lives, and most likely, you already have seen some of the power of Cyttorak, do you remember that part in Avengers Infinity War where Dr. Strange uses some weird looking red tentacles to hold Thanos? Those are called the crimson bands of Cyttorak, also remember Juggernaut from Deadpool, his power comes from the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, yep, I’m a nerd.
> 
> Alright, no more stalling, here we go!

One more day, that’s all Nico wants, one more day to spend with her family with her Karrie, just one more day to say goodbye and grieve and make love and laugh and cry. She wants to yell at Gert to wait, to beg her for more time, even one hour, anything.

 

It’s too late, she hears the blip from the time portico and braces herself, she thinks of Karrie one last time, committing to memory every detail she can remember for as long as she can. Karrie’s voice, her gorgeous blue eyes, the wrinkle that appears on the bridge of her nose when she frowns in concentration and Nico finds irresistibly adorable, the laugh she reserves exclusively for her, the softness of her skin, the scent of her extra pretentious sustainable locally sourced perfume… and it hits her, the scent is all wrong, it does smell like Karrie, but there are also other less inviting aromas.

 

The air is heavy with the metallic scent of blood, Nico knows is her own blood, but there must be someone else’s mixed in there too. Ugh, now that she thinks about it, the place reeks, Old Lace stinks! She should’ve give her bath but there was no time, they needed to move this same day. Funny, how she still remembers those insignificant details and not Karrie, the love of her life… wait, she still remembers Karrie, and her body still aches from the exertion of the battle, she shouldn’t remember any of those things! What is happening?!

 

Nico opens one eye, deadly afraid to not being able to recognize where she is or even herself but… she’s still in the Hostel, she’s still hugging her friends, her face still nestled on Karolina’s neck… and Old Lace is still stinky…

 

“- Uhm, guys?” Nico says timidly.

 

No one answers, they still try to hug and cling one another.

 

“- Guys?” Nico tries again and still she doesn’t get a response, she tries to break the communal hug, but Karolina tightens her grip on her “- Guys, seriously, I think we’re still… us”

 

Karolina relax her grip on Nico and opens her eyes surveying the room, after a moment she lowers her eyes and looks directly at her girlfriend “- Nico…” Her voice is barely above a whisper, full of caution and relief and a sense that this might be too good to be true, she still kisses Nico all the same.

 

While Nico appreciates the gesture, an understatement really, she could keep kissing Karolina senseless for the rest of the day, she breaks the kiss and steps away from the group, silently glad to be away from Old Lace’s funk, she loves the dinosaur of course, but she also loves to breathe through her nose.

 

“- What happened?” Chase asks.

 

“- You tell me, you’ve kind of done this before” Nico answers him.

 

“- Technically, we all have” Karolina adds.

 

“- Damn it! How many times have you tampered with time?” Alex asks dumbfounded.

 

“- Once or twice, gee, Alex you might have done it too if you haven’t turned evil and stick around” Nico says defensively “- Seriously Chase, you have no idea?”

 

Chase shakes his head, he prods some of his bruises with her index finger, assessing if there was any change in his own body.

 

“- Do these things take time? You know, to feel the reality change?” Molly asks.

 

“- No” Victor says “- The change should have been instantaneous, If the time stream was modified we shouldn’t even felt it”

 

“- Then what happened?” Molly asks again.

 

“- I don’t know” Victor answers her.

 

“- So, we failed” Nico says. It’s funny, in a depressive kind of way, that the first thing she considers is her own failure. She starts running scenarios in her head, about humanity’s impending doom, how can she prevent it? Who to talk about it? Dread begins to set on her.

 

“- We just don’t know, Nico” Victor says “- Lay off the gloom and doom for a second”

 

Nico drops the subject, at least for now, she walks to the sofa, where Karolina is now seated, and extends her hand towards hers, Karolina takes the hint and interlaces their fingers. Everyone’s mood begins to finally calm down, the rest of the group takes a seat too, the moment doesn’t last much; out of nowhere, Karolina perks up.

 

“- You guys hear that?” She asks to no one in particular.

 

Before Nico can answer that, no, she doesn’t hear anything, Karolina takes off her bracelet and flies out of the Hostel. Nico extends her arm, calling the Staff of One, that she had forgotten about completely, and rushes to the door, both the Staff and her friends catching up to her.

 

“- Karrie!” Nico exclaims, fearing for the worst “- What is it?” She asks when she meets her girlfriend in the battered ground outside the Hostel where minutes before they were fighting for their lives. It’s always a shock for Nico to see how bad a place looks after a super hero battle.

 

She’s about to ask Karolina again but then, she feels it rather than hear it, a feeling she got familiar with a long time ago, the effect of a shockwave coursing through her body making her inner organs vibrate, the sound that comes after it she’s familiar with too, it’s similar to a fighter jet, only on a smaller scale, more contained maybe, yet infinitely more powerful. She turns her head to where the sound is coming from, and incidentally, where Karolina is looking at too, smiling; two bright spots in the sky approach them fast, tailed by a few ships Nico recognizes as SHIELD’s field transports. She’s about to turn to her friends to tell them it’s okay, when one of those spots accelerates towards her, the sound reaches a crescendo until Captain Marvel herself lands a few feet from Nico, full uniform, helmet on, (figurative) guns blazing, the other spot of lights lands too, this one near Karolina; Nico was wondering how Karolina knew someone was coming until she see it’s Julie Power, surely Karolina is accustomed to the droning sound Julie emits when she flies.

 

“- Nico! Are you okay?! Where’s your attacker?!” Captain Marvel asks, her arms raised, glowing with power and looking for an unseen threat.

 

 _Of course,_ Nico thinks, she did send an SOS through the Avenger’s network, and after the whole future Victor situation resolved, she didn’t send an update or cancel the SOS, in her defense, she was more preoccupied with her former self disappearing into the void with the restarting of the time line and such.

 

“- Captain” Nico says, she can’t help but smile “- We’re fine, we were attacked, but it’s all good now”

 

“- You’re bleeding!” Captain Marvel points at Nico’s left arm.

 

It’s funny, she hadn’t notice that her wound opened up again, or the pain coming from it nor that her bandage was soaked in blood “- Oh! It’s alright, I don’t even hear it” Did she say hear it? That is also funny, how can you hear a wound? Nico didn’t notice how weird the floor looks or how her vision is turning yellow, it’s hilarious that she can’t stand any more, oh! She gets it! She’s passing out, yeah, Nico thinks that is funny too, she only wishes to not bang her head when she falls before the world turns black around her.

 

 -

 

“- Nico!” Karolina yells when she sees her girlfriend collapsing, she tries to rush at her but even in her Majesdane form she’s not fast enough. Nico never reaches the ground, though, Carol Danvers gets to her in a fraction of a second.

 

“- I got her, I got her” Carol says and steadies herself, then, she picks Nico up bridal style, taking extra care to keep Nico’s head supported, with Nico unconscious, the Staff of One reenters her body “- Whoa! What the hell?” Carol exclaims when the Staff embeds itself into Nico’s chest and disappears.

 

“- The Staff does that” Karolina offers as an explanation, but she’s much more concerned with Nico passing out “She’s lost a lot of blood, she needs a doctor!” Karolina says, she gets closer to Captain Marvel and places a hand on Nico’s forehead, she gets alarmed when she notices how cold she is. The rest of the Runaways keep a respectful distance, Julie Power included.

 

“- It’s alright, we have everything we need with us” Captain Marvel says pointing with her head at the approaching ships “- Julie!” Carol exclaims, Julie Power turns to her at once “-  Tell them we need the medical unit here and deployed ASAP”

 

“- Yes, Captain” Julie says and, after nodding politely towards Carolina, she flies to one of the ships.

 

“- We better go back inside” Carol says to the group “- Karolina, keep the pressure on Nico’s arm, brief me, what happened? Who attacked you? Do you need more medical attention? Who’s the kid that barely can walk? Where is Miss Yorkes?”

 

One of the main perks, and at the same time, disadvantages, Karolina found about growing up a Runaway is she’s always on her guard, it’s a great survival tactic to be sure but it also means she gets suspicious even with the most trustworthy people, case in point, Captain Marvel. Karolina knows Nico trust her (and Molly is close to worshiping her) and Karolina does too but in a lesser extent, so, she does tell the whole story to Carol, at least the part about a future version of Victor coming to try and fix the time stream, the misunderstanding that got them into a fight and how they beat him and send Gert to the past; but the part about they becoming super villains in the future? Yeah, that part gets left out.

 

“- Alright” Captain Marvel says after hearing Karolina’s explanation “- I still have questions, but first thing first” She beacons some SHIELD personnel to get close and directs them towards Nico, she barks some orders and a doctor approaches the unconscious girl, Karolina wants to keep close, but she’s stopped by Captain Marvel.

 

“- It’s okay, let them work” Carol says “- Let’s get you all checked”

 

In a matter of minutes, the living room of the Hostel is transformed into a temporary clinic, everyone in the group is checked by a different physician, Karolina got lucky, in her Majesdane form she has a high tolerance to extreme temperatures so, even when she got blasted quite a few times, her injuries aren’t serious; after the doctor gives her a shot to help her alien physiology heal faster she goes to check on the rest of the group.

 

She first goes to see Nico, Karolina gets nervous when a doctor plugs an IV in Nico’s hand,  the doctor calms her however, telling her that, despite the blood loss, Nico is completely out of danger and she would recuperate just fine on her own, but the IV would make her feel much better when she wakes up; Chase got the worst part, apart from several burnings, he has a concussion, and would need further medical treatment; Molly is fine, just a collection of minor bruises and a couple of sprained muscles, but at her age she would be fine by tomorrow; Victor doesn’t have a body and he’s already chatting up the doctor assigned to him about an old movie they both like. The vet tells her Old Lace is surprisingly in good shape and that she’s only hungry, the dinosaur gets an extra generous ration of food that she devours in minutes. The matter of Alex is more complicated.

 

 “- I’m telling you, I don’t need treatment!” He yells at the doctor tending to him.

 

“- Alex” Karolina says as soon as she’s within earshot “- What’s the matter?”

 

“- I already told the doctor I don’t need anything, I’m already dead! This would go away on its own” He says pointing at the several huge charred spots in his body.

 

Karolina struggles to not make a face, or retch, Alex’s torso is badly burned, if she pays attention she can see through it in some places, plus some of his bones look askew.

 

“- I understand, young man” The doctor says, she’s a very patient middle age lady with weary eyes, she holds out a flask of some kind of a weird looking blue gel “- We see a lot of strange cases in SHIELD, this compound would help your body to regenerate”

 

“- Please, Alex, just let them treat you” Karolina says “- Even if you’re not in pain you don’t seem able to move that much”

 

Alex sighs and lowers his gaze, then, he nods at the doctor who starts to apply the gel on the worst looking burns.

 

“- Thank you” Karolina says “- I’ll go talk to Captain Marvel”

 

Karolina walks to where Carol is talking to Julie and another Japanese American girl Karolina thinks she knows but can’t quite place yet. There is a crew of SHIELD personnel clearing rubble from where the blast door of the Hostel was, it’s silly but Karolina feels like a slacker, she’s used to cleaning after her own mess and right now she’s fighting the impulse to grab a pair of gloves and help the cleaning crew. Captain Marvel didn’t spare resources, nor personnel, when she came to help them; alongside the medical and cleaning staff, Karolina counted one carrier with a science team and three carriers full of combat personnel that included regular shield agents, some super humans Karolina doesn’t know and even a few members of the SHIELD magical division.

 

“- Captain” Karolina calls Carol.

 

“- Karolina” Captain Marvel nods at her “- How are you holding up?”

 

“- I’m fine, we all are, sort of, Chase is gonna need more treatment and Nico hasn’t waked up yet, but we’re all out of danger at least” Karolina answers.

 

“- Good” Carol says “- I need to check some things with the science team, but I’ll talk to you before we wrap things up” Captain Marvel leaves Karolina a sympathetic smile.

 

“- Thanks for coming to help, Julie” Karolina says.

 

“- You don’t have to thank me, I’m just glad you all are alright, I’m actually sorry we couldn’t get here sooner to help you, but even at supersonic speed it took us like half an hour to arrive” Julie says.

 

“- Never mind that, thank you” Karolina smiles, the last interaction she had with Julie was less than stellar and they haven’t talked since, sure, but Julie is a hero through and through and she would never let innocent people be hurt.

 

“- Yeah, she was the first one to respond to your SOS, other than Carol, that is” The other girl, the one Karolina is still racking her brain to remember, says.

 

“- I’m sorry, I swear I know from somewhere, but—” Karolina apologizes.

 

“- Oh, don’t worry, you only saw me without my suit a couple times, I’m Jennifer”

 

“- Oh, my God! Hazmat!” Karolina hugs the former alumna of the Avengers Academy “- Sorry I didn’t recognize you”

 

“- Is okay” Hazmat shrugs.

 

“- Thank you so much for coming” Karolina says “- It really mean a lot to us”

 

“- It’s nothing, really, I was with the Captain when your SOS went off” Hazmat says pointing at Carol “- I jumped in the first transport available, you know us Murderwolrd kids don’t leave each other behind”

 

“- In fact, several teams volunteered, they were put as reserves in case they were needed, I heard X-23 tried to highjack a Quinjet to come here, you guys are more popular than you think” Julie says in good humor.

 

“- And powerful” Hazmat adds “- Turns out you never needed us”

 

“- Yeah, who knew you had it in you, K” Julie says “- You’re a badass”

 

“- Like a care bear with a machine gun” Hazmat quips.

 

Both Julie and Jennifer laugh, it’s the first authentic laugh Karolina has heard all day, it feels like ages ago since she can relax and joke, she feels lighter, at least a little “- Ok, you two cut that out” She says keeping the humor light “- I’ll have you know I fought alongside Beta Ray Bill once, he called me a mighty warrior and said it had been an honor and all, so you better start showing some respect” Karolina tries to keep a stern face but couldn’t for the life of her, she ends up laughing too.

 

“- It’s true” A voice says from behind Karolina “- Agent Brand still owes Karolina a favor. You should collect soon, babe”

 

Nico is awake. Nico is awake and standing in front of Karolina, still with the IV plugged into her hand and supporting herself on the IV stand, she looks fine, a little pale and her eyes have a weary look on them, but overall fine, more importantly, she’s awake, in one piece, and godamned gorgeous. Karolina rushes to give her the tightest of hugs.

 

-

 

Too many times have Nico Minoru awaken from passing out, at least, too many for a person as young as her. But that sort of things come with being (begrudgingly) within the super hero community, she supposes. The first thing Nico notices is noise, the droning sound of several conversations being held simultaneously, the busying of people working and moving things around and, in the distance, a sound that always makes her smile, Karrie’s voice.

 

She opens her eyes and confirms she’s laying down, she’s on the sofa of her own living room, but the place barely resembles itself, there’s a lot medical equipment lying around and a lot of people in white robes and scrubs, she feels an itch in her left hand and tries to scratch it, she notices the IV plugged into her.

 

“- Easy, miss, it’s just something to help you recover” Another voice says to her, there’s a doctor sitting at her side and readjusts the IV.

 

“- I want to get up” Nico says, the doctor tending to her, who says her name is Ellen, helps her sit on the sofa, Nico’s head isn’t spinning as hard as she thought it would, so she takes it as a good sign. She tries to stand on her feet, a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder stops her.

 

“- You should really get some rest, miss” Dr. Ellen says.

 

“- I need to know if everyone’s okay” Nico says.

 

Dr. Ellen nods and checks Nico’s vitals, she helps her on her feet when everything seems to be in order. Nico stumbles only on the first couple of steps, which confirms she is better shape than she thought, her doctor tells her, with no small amount of satisfaction, that the compound being pumped into her veins is doing the trick.

 

Nico walks towards where Karolina is talking to Julie and, to Nico’s surprise, to Jennifer Takeda first; she will check on everybody else of course, it’s just that after the events of the day she needs to feel at home and safe, if only for a moment. Nico hears Karolina talking about her time in SWORD detention center when she’s close enough.

 

“- It’s true” Nico says “- Agent Brand still owes Karolina a favor. You should collect soon, babe” She tries to give her best re smile when Karolina turns to her, Nico is completely sure that she looks a lot worse than she feels, and yet, Karolina rewards her smiling like she guarded sun itself.

 

“- Nico!” Karolina launches at her. Nico braces herself thinking Karrie would tackle her or something, there was no need, Karolina’s hug is both fierce and delicate, it’s steady, grounding, the same way Karrie’s love is. Nico allows herself a few more moment into the arms of the most beautiful woman in the world but Karrie breaks the hug first “- Are you okay? Do you feel alright? Do you need to sit?”

 

“- I’m fine, Karrie” Nico says, she grossly understates it and there are many things that need to be said, but they will have to wait “- Julie, Jennifer” Nico says addressing the other two girls “- Thank you so much for coming, I’m really glad to see you”

 

“- That’s what we do” Julie says.

 

“- It’s very good to see you, Nico” Hazmat steps towards Nico and gives her a brief hug, she keeps turning between Julie and Nico, she must be aware of their fight a few months ago “- I’m gonna go and talk to… whoever” She says and goes off as quickly as some dignity permits.

 

Maybe it’s because she faced such an horrible odds just an hour ago or some lingering adrenaline in her system, or maybe she just doesn’t give a fuck anymore, but Nico is done with this feud with Julie, so, it falls to her to be the first one to say something “- Seriously, Julie, thank you for coming, I know we’re not you favorite people, I just want you to know I really appreciate it”

 

“- I like K well enough, you, not so much” Julie says not a hint of humor in her words “- I’m sorry, I’m just, kind of, joking” She finally says “- Look, we might never be friends or anything, but I would fight for you any day”

 

“- Thank you, Julie” Nico says.

 

“- And just so you know, I did go to Doctor Strange”

 

“- You did, uh?” Nico says.

 

“- Yeah, no love spell as it turns out, he was kind of a dick about it” Julie laughs. She is right, she and Nico are not friends, and perhaps they will never be, but seeing her willing to risk her life for her, well, Nico gets why Karolina dated her.

 

“- I’m sorry about everything, Julie, I really am, I was horrible to you” Nico offers.

 

“- It’s okay, I was horrible to you too” Julie smiles “- Seems like we’re wrapping things up” She says pointing at the cleanup crew finishing the details on a provisional door for the Hostel “- I’ll see if there’s anything else to be done, you guys rest, I’ll come back to say goodbye later”

 

“- Are you sure you’re alright, Nico? You look pale” Karolina asks.

 

“- I’m sure, I’m just a little hungry” Nico shrugs “- Let’s go find the others” They walk through the living room looking for the rest of their friends, they pick Victor up first without any trouble, Chase burns are treated and bandaged, thanks to SHIELD field treatment he’s already walking, his concussion is more serious than they thought but the doctor tells them it’s nothing a couple of months of rest can’t solve, Alex joins them, still walking with a very notorious limp and half her body bandaged up, Old lace and Rufus are already cuddle in a corner and fast asleep, they decide to leave them alone for the moment.

 

Nico is about to ask where Molly is when the over excited squeal of a fourteen-year-old caught her attention, Molly is already chewing Captain Marvel’s ear off.

 

“… and there was a _wuuush_ sound and Karolina flew over me just firing at him, then I caught up to him and punched him as hard as I could and there were sparks and pieces of armor everywhere and I felt bad because I thought I broke him but then I remembered that was a good thing so I kicked him next—” Molly gesticulates wildly while Captain Marvel watches her with a look that is equals part amused, worried and proud.

 

Nico clears her throat, interrupting Molly’s rambling “- Molly, give the Captain some room to breathe” Nico says.

 

“- Nico!” Molly turns and hugs Nico tightly, maybe a little too tight “- You’re awake!”

 

“- Easy, Molliver” Nico says “- I need to breathe too”

 

“- Sorry” Molly apologizes but keeps her good spirits, she keeps hugging Nico, who is no rush to let go.

 

“- Molly was telling me about your, and I quote, _epic final battle_ ” Carol says.

 

“- I’m sorry, Captain, I know I promised keep Molly out of any fight” Nico squirms “- But this was an emergency”

 

“- I know, Nico” Captain Marvel sighs “- I’m relieved you’re all fine, now, I need to talk to you” Carol shifts her approachable self with the no-nonsense side of Captain Marvel in a second, which still unnerves Nico every time “- Okay, first,  the Chief Medical Officer says you are all in the clear, but, before we go, make sure you talk to her” Carol points to the same doctor tending to Nico before “- Second, the science team confirmed several traces of time travel particles, or energy, whatever, the important part is, there’s no trace of a time shift, you, know, the thing that changes reality when someone changes the past, anywhere on the planet”

 

“- So, we don’t know if Gert succeeded, or where she is” Chase adds dryly.

 

“- Unfortunately, not, but we’ll keep looking” Carol promises “- In the meantime, traveling while recovering it’s not advisable, so no civilian flying, I’ll schedule a specialized transport for you next week”

 

“- Travel?” Chase asks again “- Do we still have to go? We just beat the very reason we were going into hiding!

 

“- I actually thought about that, Chase” Karolina says “- And I kind of have to go, I already enrolled into Empire State U for the rest of the semester, it’s not like I can change my mind, and the same goes to Molly”

 

“- I already quit my job” Nico says, alright, fare, maybe she can get it back, but her soul is a lot darker since she started work in retail and she can’t stomach the prospect of leaving Karrie’s side right now; and then she gets it, without Gert, Chase would spent the next couple of months with Old Lace in Captain Marvel’s mom house.

 

“- Okay, I guess we’ll have to” Chase says.

 

“- Chase, I can help you get some place around New York” Captain Marvel says “- Just give me a week or something” She clearly caught on Chase hesitation “- Which brings me to Mr. Wilder” Carol says and Alex looks surprised to be recognized “- Don’t give me that face, I remember you from our little incident in Bagalia, I should have you arrested, but you’re technically a minor and with the whole not living situation I get a headache just to think the amount of paperwork I would have to do” Carol face softens “- And you helped them” Carol nods towards Nico in particular for some reason “- So I’m gonna let this one pass, just don’t push your luck”

 

Alex doesn’t say anything, he just nods.

 

“- Right, we’re gonna start packing, you guys go see the doctor and get some rest” Carol smiles at them and turn in her heels, she starts to give orders to repack equipment and to start loading it into the airships.

 

Tiredness finally sets on Nico, she yawns loudly and hugs Karolina’s arm “- Let’s see if I can take this thing off” She says looking at the IV on her hand. They all walk to where Dr. Ellen is reading a datapad, after a few more quick tests she removes the IV from Nico’s hand, she also gives them a full box with medical supplies, mostly painkillers and antibiotics, for the days to come, she also issues a future appointment for Chase and even Alex if she wants to, she sends them off with a smile and a phone number in case they have some emergency.

 

There’s little left to do, Nico is already weary and wants nothing but a little shuteye, she checks her phone and she’s surprised that, one, the damned thing still works, and two, only two hours have passed since the attack commenced.

 

“- I’m gonna talk to Julie for a moment” Karolina says, Nico just nods and sits on the nearby couch. Molly helps both Chase and Alex sit down, none of them are two happy to be sit next to each other, and then she sits next to Nico.

 

“- Nico” Molly says “- What do you think happened to Gert?”

 

Nico doesn’t want to go there, she still has the lingering thought that all of this, all of her life can end any second; she also doesn’t want to discuss the implications of Gert going missing again in front of Chase, but Molly deserves some kind of answer at least “- I don’t know, Molly” Some answer.

 

Molly doesn’t press any further, she scoots closer and, tentatively, leans on Nico’s shoulder. Nico smiles and hugs Molly in earnest, she thinks it’s funny how much she has changed over the years; Nico was not a touchy feely person at all, not even when she was a kid, the Minoru upbringing was never an overly affectionate one, but her friends have really got through her, now, she wouldn’t ever hesitate to show how much she loves them, that does not include Alex, of course.

 

Nico watches the SHIELD personnel packing up things and promptly moving out of her home, Hazmat stops to say hi to everyone and Nico promises to keep in touch, she means it, she really does, and it will be easier since both will be living in New York, at least for a while.

 

Karolina and Julie arrive shortly after and Julie says her goodbyes.

 

“- I guess we’ll be seeing you more often, now that we will be in New York” Karolina tells Julie.

 

“- Oh, yeah, about that, my brother came back from space and we’re reforming the Future Foundation, I’ll be out for a while, but I promise I’ll visit” Julie says.

 

Nico smiles at that, part of her will always feel bad about being the reason Julie Power getting her heart broken, so it’s nice to see the girl moving on and being her heroic amazing self again.

 

Karolina on her part hugs Julie fiercely “- I’m so proud of you” she says after releasing Julie, then she goes to sit beside Nico on the armrest of the sofa.

 

“- Thank you” Julie says, there’s a hint of melancholy in her words, she wipes it away quickly “- I’ll hitch a ride in one of the transports, hey, we should have launch sometime, okay?” She waves at everybody.

 

“- Bye, Julie” Karolina waves back.

 

They all say their goodbyes to Julie before she exits the Hostel. The SHIELD personnel have practically finished cleaning and making some small fixtures and the Hostel goes back to looking like a running down underground mansion. Nico was dozing off, her head already resting on Karrie’s thigh and falling asleep placidly when Karolina shakes her awake “- Babe” Karolina says.

 

Nico hears Captain Marvel’s voice saying “- It’s okay, let her sleep” Ironically, that wakes her up.

 

“- I’m awake, I’m awake” Nico says “- Just resting my eyes for a minute”

 

“- Sorry” Captain Marvel says “- I just wanted to say goodbye, I’ll talk you all soon, okay?”

 

“- Wait, Captain!” Molly yells and stops Captain Marvel in her tracks.

 

Carol turns looking alarmed all of the sudden “- What is it, Molly?” She asks.

 

“- Don’t go, I’ll be back in a second” Molly jumps out of the couch and goes running up the stairs towards her room. Carol wanted to ask what all this was about, but she was one second too late, Molly comes back running at top speed, she stops in front of Captain Marvel breathing heavily “- Here! This is for you!” Molly extends her hand holding a Captain Marvel plushie.

 

“- Oh, Molly” Carol says “- This is your doll, it’s not necessary—” She is genuinely touched at Molly’s gesture, but, as usual, she has problems accepting kindness from other people.

 

“- Please, take it, Nico said you wanted one for your girlfriend” Molly says, her smile is the most contagious thing in the world right now.

 

“- Oh—I- I don’t have—I mean, Jess is just—uhm, thank you, Molly, it’s perfect” Carol takes the doll clutching it close to her chest “- You know, it’s a shame this one is discontinued, I think it’s really cute” She says.

 

“- The cutest!” Molly exclaims.

 

Carol kneels down and extends her arms towards Molly who accepts the hug enthusiastically “- Thank you” She repeats and hugs Molly tighter, after a couple of seconds she breaks the hug and stands back up “- Okay, try to get some rest, I’ll call you” Carol says.

 

Captain Marvel leaves the Hostel with a smile Nico has never seen on her before, she must have really appreciated Molly’s gift.

 

“- Ok, now that we’re alone, what are going to do about Gert?” Chase asks the second the door of the Hostel closes.

 

“- Chase—” Karolina tries to interject.

 

“- Nico, you can conjure a spell to locate Gert, right?” Chase continues.

 

Nico is beyond tired, she’s still trying to manage her headache and she’s not sure if she can summon the Staff again today but seeing the look on Chase eyes means resting is out of the question “- I guess I could—” She says.

 

“- No, Nico!” Karolina exclaims “- You already overworked yourself, we all did, we desperately need to rest, we can start looking tomorrow” Just when Chase was opening her mouth to protest, someone knocks at the newly refurbished door of the Hostel.

 

“- Probably the Captain forgot something” Nico says and start moving to get up, but Karolina places a hand over her shoulder.

 

“- I’ll go” Karolina says and smiles at Nico. It’s not that Karolina don’t want to find Gert, but they’re all exhausted, and wounded, none of them is in any condition to go on any kind of mission. Karolina is already thinking on how to cram some sense in Chase’s thick skull when she opens the door and her mind goes blank “- Gert—”

 

Gert is standing in front of Karolina, like it’s just a normal thing to do, which it isn’t because they sent Gert to the past to save the world and in the process, restarting the current time line they all live in, which in turn, means that this reality shouldn’t exist, but here is Gert nonetheless… now it’s Karolina who is getting a headache.

 

“- Can I come in?” Gert asks, clearly amused with herself and Karolina’s reaction.

 

“- Yeah, sure” Karolina says, she seems composed enough to let Gert inside, but it’s just the shock what’s preventing her to freak out.

 

“- Who was it, babe?” Nico asks when Karolina doesn’t return to the living room.

 

If Nico was half asleep before she wakes up instantly at the sight before her, Gert is back. It’s the second time in less than a year that Nico has been render speechless by the presence of Gertrude Yorkes, in fact, the room is completely silent.

 

“- Well, I have to admit I expected and standing ovation” Gert says, the room still silent “- No?  a little ovation, maybe a round of applause, even a hello would be nice”

 

And the humor is what hits Nico first. Gert, this Gert has a more nuanced sense of humor, then, Nico takes a good look at her, it sure looks like Gert, only… only older, more muscular, obviously her clothes are different; the fashion designer in Nico is screaming bloody murder at the combo boots, hiking pants and leather jacker, alright, yeah, it’s clearly meant to be practical and perhaps is stylish in its own way but the colors don’t complement… she should be doing this later; Gert’s hair is different, a shade of auburn (probably her natural color? Nico can’t remember) and she’s sporting an undercut, her signature glasses are still on, lastly there’s this one huge scar running from above her ear all the way down to the neck on the same side of the undercut.

 

“- Now would be a good time to hug me? I’ve missed you” Gert concedes.

 

The first one to get to her is, not surprisingly, Chase, he hugs Gert as hard as he can, a moment later Karolina, Molly and Nico join in “- C’mon Wilder” Gert says “- Get in here, I know you want to”

 

“- I do” Alex says still sitting on the sofa “- But my body is not responding that well, so, hello from here”

 

“- Oh yeah, your weird, mangled dead body, don’t worry about it”

 

“- Where were you?” “- What happened to you?” “- Did you go to the past?” “- Did you bring me something” The barrage of questions continues until Gert raises her hands pleading for a moment.

 

“- First things first” Gert says “- Where’s Old Lace?” Chase points at the dinosaur sleeping peacefully in a corner of the living room, Gert approaches her cautiously and kneels beside her “- Lace, girl, hey, wake up, it’s me” She says and uses her hand to push Lace lightly.

 

Poor Old Lace barely opens an eye when she pounces on Gert, a vicious attack of dino kisses follow through; five solid minutes and a face wash later, finally Gert gets up.

 

“- So, Gert, seriously, what happened?” Chase asks.

 

Gert points at the sofa and everyone return to the living room, Old Lace and Rufus tagging along happily, she sits on the single couch and wait for everyone to be seated “- I did get to the past, you know? I was there again, the night the other Wilder stabbed me, I saw you all standing outside the fire and… I couldn’t do it, I would have ruined what you have right now”

 

“- Gert—” Chase wants to stand up but Gert motions him to remain seated, he does so.

 

“- Evil Victor said that the problem was my absence from the time line, so, it occurred to me that as long as I remained _in_ the time line it would probably be enough, I just didn’t need to wreak your lives, so, I never showed up to you”

 

“- Where have you been then?” Karolina asks.

 

Gert smiles at the question, a kind of smile that none of them have ever seen, it’s full of pride and longing and happiness “- Okay” She begins “- There I was, alone in LA at night thinking where I could spend the night and what to do the next day when a portal opens in front of me”

 

“- Oh God, Evil Victor?” Chase asks her.

 

“- I thought the same thing!” Gert says enthusiastically “- But no, it was this super cool team of time and dimensional travelers called the Exiles, her leader, Blink, wanted to recruit me, I said yes, oh man, you should have seen them, there was this kick ass lady, Peggy Carter, she was the Captain America of her dimension, and the actual Iron Lad and a Valkyrie! oh, Molly you’re gonna love this, there was a little cartoon Wolverine! And he didn’t smell like old beer and cheap cigars, he was funny” Gert pauses and the longing in her gaze intensifies “- They wanted me to help them fixing this time line, and we did, so, you can start thanking me for preventing an invasion of invincible aliens coming to earth”

 

“- I don’t know where to even begin—” Chase says “- Wait, after you fix the time line, why didn’t you come back?” Chase tries to hide the hurt in his words, he’s not exactly successful.

 

Gert sighs and choose her words carefully, another habit that Nico knows it’s new “- After we fixed the time line, Blink gave me the option to come back, but… I wanted to do something for myself, live a little, I spent the last three years with them”

 

If there’s one person in the room who understands where Gert is coming from is Nico, she did the same after all, when she was nothing A- Force offered her a chance to be something “- I bet it was awesome” Nico says. It’s a rare occurrence that Nico says the right thing at the right time, this is one of those times, the mood is completely lifted, and eve Chase starts to smile.

 

“- It was very awesome” Gert says full of pride “- We saved the world a few times, we traveled the multiverse, I got this bad girl in one of our missions” She points to the scar on her head “- We fought an evil older version of me stranded in time, she was breeding an army of Old Laces and we stopped her, one of them gave this souvenir”

 

“- So, what happened to your team?” Molly asks Gert

 

Gert shrugs and that air of sadness returns to her “- At the end, we accomplished what we set for and split up, everyone went to their dimension and get their happy endings” Gert explains “- I asked them to drop me here today, which reminds me that I’m gonna need your help to get the time portico back here, Molls”

 

“- So, that’s it then, you’re back for good, you fixed the time line, you saved us all” Karolina says.

 

“- Yep, pretty much” Gert says.

 

It all worked out, against all odds and logic, it all worked out in the end. If Nico wasn’t so exhausted she would feel her anxiety spiking but for the moment all she can feel is relief “- I hate to ruin the mood but I think I have to report this to Captain Marvel, and try to arrange some place for Gert to stay in New York”

 

“- We’re still doing that, uh?” Gert comments “- Well, I’ll take it as vacation, there are worse places to be stuck than New York”

 

“- Speak for yourself” Nico says “- I have to work there and Molly and Karrie have school”

 

“- Ha! Suckers, are you still worrying about money? Didn’t you guys keep a huge chunk of the most valuable material in the universe?” Gert mocks her referencing the vibranium ore they used to beat Victor.

 

Nico makes a face at the rude comment but she’s happy to have Gert back, she’s happy about a lot of things actually “- Fair, but no amount of money excludes Molly from school” She says and hears Molly groan “- Plus, it’s not like we can sell it on ebay or something”

 

“- Well, what do we do now?” Chase asks.

 

“- We got our butts kicked” Karolina says “- We need to rest, but you had a concussion so you have to keep awake” She extricates herself from Nico’s arms, one of the worst things imaginable, and walks towards Gert to give her another quick hug, then she turns to Molly “- C’mon, Molly, you’re dozing off, I’ll tuck you to bed, Nico, you go to bed too, I’ll cook something really quick for when we got hungry later and take care of Chase’s injuries”

 

Gert steps up and touches Karolina’s arm to get her attention “- Why don’t you and Nico go to bed, and I take care of things here, you really need to rest”

 

And now Karolina is going to owe Gert for life, she’s really doing them a solid, from the moment it looked that might be okay after all, she wanted nothing else but having Nico to herself for the foreseeable future “- Thank you” She mutters to Gert, then, she walks to Nico who is waiting for her with a wicked grin “- C’mon, babe” Karolina offers her hand and Nico takes it.

 

“- Hey, does this mean I can stay for the night?” Alex asks.

 

In any other circumstances Nico would’ve tell him off, but she’s too tired and she’s in a hurry, and okay, he actually helped, it might also be that Nico has a concussion too “- Yeah, you can stay, pick any room you like, away from ours” Nico offers.

 

This is taking too much time for Karolina, she takes off her bracelet, picks Nico up and flies towards their room “- Thanks, Gert! And do not dare to disturb!” She yells from upstairs.

 

“- You’re in a hurry” Nico says to Karolina once they’re inside their room with the door locked.

 

“- Oh, Nico, don’t let me fool you, I’m gonna take may sweet time with you” Karolina says.

 

Nico remembers why she considers herself the luckiest woman alive, she not only got her wish of one more day with Karolina, she got a whole lot more. Karrie’s right, there is no rush, Nico is going to take her time too, she will remind Karolina what being alive feels like, that burning desire can last not only a night but a life time, that there are no limits to the love they profess to one another.  She’s gonna makes this last, she’s gonna make this memorable she… she falls asleep as soon as her head touches the pillow. Nico wakes up the next morning with Karolina resting on top of her, safe and secure in her arms.

 

-

 

Ten years later.

 

Finding her way back home is something natural for Nico Minoru. Okay, her house is easy to find, sure, but of course this is not about that; she always keeps her home, her family, close and returning to them is the most normal feeling in the world, it just feels right, particularly after a long absence.

 

After many attempts, it was obvious that full time super hero life was not meant for the Runaways, well, maybe for Molly, but that’s another story, still, they were still powerful enough and based in LA, a place that is not abundant on super powered people like New York, so, it wasn’t uncommon for them to step into action when it’s been necessary.

 

Take the past weeks for example, Illyana Rasputin, Sorceress Supreme, asked Nico to cover her in some extraterrestrial affairs in planet Torfa since Illyana had her hands full rebuilding the Sanctum Sanctorum for the hundredth time, she even offered the Cape of Levitation and the Eye of Agamoto to Nico to aid in her endeavors, making her, albeit temporarily, the New Sorceress Supreme.

 

Nico declined vehemently until she found out that Karolina wanted to attend a summit of Majesdanian refugees on Torfa, Molly even interceded on her behalf, and Kamala agreed to let Karolina borough, again temporally, the uniform and identity of Captain Marvel, so, off they went to space.

 

Almost three months of grueling work off world later and they’re finally on their way home, they returned their things in New York and Illyana offered a portal back to LA that left them near Malibu Beach. It suited Nico perfectly, she wanted to fly the rest of the way.

 

“- You’re quiet” Karolina says, even when they’re flying home they still have a few minutes to talk.

 

“- I’m sorry?” Nico asks.

 

“- You’re quiet, more than usual” Karolina clarifies, it’s not exactly a bad thing, Nico always has been a quiet type person, even more so in her adult years and Karolina can read her easily, especially with the grin Nico was sporting, this is a good kind of silence.

 

“- Yeah, sorry” Nico says “- It’s just… I really missed you, you know?”

 

Karolina nods, she knows exactly what Nico is talking about, but she asks anyway “- Miss me?”

 

“- Yeah! I mean…  I think this is the first time we had for ourselves in like a year, we’ve been so busy, and I know it was kinda like work but … I don’t know…” Nico trails off.

 

“- I get it, maybe it’s a bit weird we considered this a vacation” Karolina shrugs “- But it was a great time after all” Karolina says

 

Nico smiles at Karolina and extends her hand towards hers, she waits until she has a good hold of Karrie’s hand, then she says “- I love you” and that earns her one of the most beautiful things in the world, Karolina’s smile. Nico is still mesmerized that she, of all people, got to marry Karolina Dean and stayed that way for this long. Truth be told, married life has not been easy for her; she loves it and she loves her wife more than anything else, but sometimes she feels like she’s lumbering her way through it, a painful trial and error journey where she’s never sure if she’s doing the right thing or not, but at least, as long as she tries her best, and she really does, there might be bumps along the way, but Nico is still with the love of her life and she’s happy.

 

“- Heads up” Karolina says “- We’re almost there” She points at the cul-de-sac street that they have made their home, even from the distance they can see a small entourage of people waiting for them, as well as several animals and critters; two of the tiny human figures go back running inside a house.

 

Karolina leads the descent keeping Nico’s hand between hers, they stay upwards in midair maybe at 30 feet from the ground and land smoothly. Nico makes a motion with her hand and sheaths the Staff of One back into her body while Karolina depowers, there are still sometimes when Nico is surprised by the mastery Karolina has gained over her powers, it’s been years since she is able to control them completely, her old suppressor bracelet is a relic of the past.

 

“- Well, I was expecting a bigger welcoming party” Nico says at the three only people plus pets on the street ready to welcome them, Molly, Victor, and of course, Old Lace.

 

Of all the changes that the Runaways have going through the years, Molly’s is the must unnerving one to Nico, did she have to grow so fast? And tall? At 6’2 and two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle the small child she knew is long gone, except for her eternal sunny disposition.

 

“- Welcome back!” Molly rushes to greet them, she picks Nico up first and gives her a bone crushing hug.

 

“- It’s so good to be back” Nico says and lets herself enjoy the hug, it might be a little too tight and her spine makes a few worrisome popping sounds, but she will never deny herself one of the patented Molly’s hugs. Nico has missed her, a lot, more so since Molly became a regular member of the Champions, and under Kamala Khan’s direct orders no less. Molly got her wish and has been superheroing all over the world. Nico still remembers the first time Molly went on a two week mission, everyone was on edge but Karolina took it particularly bad, she was a wreak, she knew they weren’t be able to contact Molly for the duration, but she kept calling Carol Danvers, asking (begging, demanding) for and update or to maybe let talk to her. When Molly finally came back, Karolina threatened with never let her go out of the house ever again. But Molly was fine, and her enthusiasm was contagious, and she did so well with the Champions, so, Molly stuck with them. Nico couldn’t be prouder.

 

After squeezing the air out of Nico’s lungs, Molly goes for Karolina, giving Nico a much needed respite, Victor steps forwards and gives Nico a gentler hug “- We’ve all missed you” He says.

 

Since rebuilding his body, Victor looks more adult yet, somehow, this Victor, their Victor, looks nothing like the murderous synthetizoid they all met all those years ago. He made peace with Viv Vision (not so much with Vision himself) and has kept a low profile ever since, he’s happy to stay and work from home with her niece helping her in any way he can without going into the field, and watch his movies and collect his action figures “- I’ve missed you too” Nico reciprocates the hug “- But seriously, where’s Gert and Chase?”

 

Victor sighs and gives Nico an apologetic look “- We had an actual welcoming set up, with a banner and lights and all, but you caught us by surprise, Chase went to the house to get it, let me just say hi to Karolina and I’ll go look” Victor says then go give Karolina a quick hug and goes to find Gert and Chase.

 

“- Hey, Molls?” Nico calls.

 

“- What’ up?” Molly perks up.

 

“- Why do we have more pets around here?” Nico crosses her arms.

 

“- We don’t” Molly hurries to respond.

 

Nico throws a glance behind Molly where Old Lace is playing with some of the rest of the pets, but Nico doesn’t recognize a very curious land shark puppy. Nico sighs in a half felt resignation, Molly has a very soft heart when it comes to foster animals in need, which everyone loves, but more often than not, Molly is unable to let go of the pets even if they can get a proper forever home, so, many of them have stayed over the years, so far, besides Old Lace, they have two more Deinonychus, three actual wolverines (courtesy of Gabby Kinney) four dogs, two psychic cats and two flerken cats (Carol Danvers abused her power and asked her to foster them “for a week”, Molly and Karolina register them to their name after five minutes) and, well, let’s say another particular dog that Nico just had to adopt.

 

“- Uh, okay” Molly says “- Don’t freak out, I’m just fostering her, Wiccan asked me to” Molly goes to the land shark puppy and picks her up “- This one is Bruce, she’s a sweetheart and don’t worry, she already has a home she’s staying with us until the Future Foundation come pick her up” She puts the land shark puppy on the ground and the little creature goes running to play with Old Lace.

 

“- She’s cute” Karolina says, Nico gives a look pleading not to encourage Molly but it’s probably too late anyway.

 

“- And speaking of Wiccan gifts, where is my dog?” Nico asks. The answer to that question comes trotting from behind her house, a massive dog with the look of a Pitbull, only more than double the size of one, approaches Nico.

 

“- Mistress has come back! And she smells like blood and a thousand conquered foes” the hunky dog says and starts pawing happily at Nico “- Gary would have liked to help mistress eviscerate her enemies”

 

Nico sighs scratches behind the hound’s ear, yep, the damnedest of dogs stayed because of her “- How is the best biting machine in all nine realms?” Nico coos. Five years ago, Wiccan came to Nico’s house asking for her help, he needed someone to look after a dog for a couple of weeks, an easy favor, Nico thought, but it turned out that the little puppy was a Hel hound, a direct descendant of Thori, God of Dogs, and the only one in the litter that they hadn’t found a home yet, probably because, despite being a tinny pup at the time, he was extremely feisty and bit everyone he ever met. No one thought the dog would stay, but when Nico came home that day the little pup took an immediate liking to her, Nico wondered why until the dog revealed his name was Garmr, Keeper of Hel and ward of Muspelheim, figures, Nico thought,  perhaps Garmr, or Gary for short, felt attracted to Nico’s blood magic, either way, he was cute, good company and a great guardian, he happily stayed with the Runaways ever since.

 

The tranquility of the moment is cut short when Victor comes back running from out of Gert’s house looking pale “- Oh God, no why?!” He exclaims.

 

“- What is it, Vic!? Where are Gert and Chase!?” Karolina asks in alarm.

 

“- My eyes! It’s seared in my eyes!” Victor says pointing behind him where Chase and Gert are coming pushing a dining cart with an assortment of desserts and beverages and an unfinished banner that reads _Welcome b_

 

Nico notices at once Gert is wearing her shirt inside out, her short hair disheveled and smudged lipstick, curious that Chase has no visible marks of said lipstick and his zipper still down, though.

 

“- Stop being dramatic, Mancha” Chase says “- You didn’t even saw anything”

 

“- Easy for you to say” Victor argues “- I have literal photographic memory, it will be in my memory banks forever”

 

“- Whatever” Chase shrugs “- Welcome back, ladies, sorry there’s no proper banner but I baked you some cupcakes” He says and then goes for a hug.

 

Nico accepts the hug cautiously, Molly already squeezed a little too hard, and physical labor took its toll on Chase making him a pile of muscle almost on par with Molls (nobody really is on par with her, but Chase tried anyway) also his full grown beard always itches “- All is forgiven If there are red velvet cupcakes in that tray” Nico says playfully, then she whispers to him “- Your zipper’s down by the way” There was a time when Nico was very worried about him. When Gert came back from her adventures in the multiverse, Chase waited only like a week before try to get together with her back again. Gert outright rejected him. It wasn’t like she didn’t care for him, but she was a very different person from the one he had known before; she had other interests and other plans, other ambitions.

 

It was a tough time for Chase, and Nico took as a personal mission to keep him on her feet (with the help of a healthy amount of therapy) He got better after a while and even tried to date again but it never worked. He stopped altogether shortly afterwards and Nico worried about him again, but he did fine, dedicating all of his time to his work and keep his family safe and provided.

 

Gert, on the other hand, retook his life with a passion, not a moment went by in which she wasn’t busy with something; in contrast with Chase she dated the hell out of people, a continuous stream of lovers and affairs parade around the house for what it seemed like years. But, just like a story Nico knows all too well, Gert and Chase, slowly, carefully, gravitated towards each other to the point they are today, they might not be official, but they’re as married as Nico and Karolina.

 

“- Oh, sorry” Chase ups his zipper without any indication of shame “- And yes, there are a whole dozen of them just for you” Chase announces.

 

“- Oh my God… You’re my favorite person” Nico says in true delight, she thinks it’s weird but since being lot more in tune with the Staff of One she developed quite a taste for pastries bakes, and, especially, pancakes.

 

“- Thanks a lot, Chase” Karolina interjects after giving a proper hug to Gert and helping her fix her lipstick (and turning her shirt the right way in a flash) “- You’re gonna cause my divorce out of desserts”

 

“- Nha, not even I bake that good” Chase laughs it off and go greet Karolina.

 

Nico is already wolfing down a second cupcake when she is interrupted by Gert “- So, how was it?” she asks.

 

“- How was what?” Nico asks after swallowing half a cupcake size bite.

 

“- You know, up there” Gert says pointing at the sky.

 

Everyone looks at her and Karolina with different degrees of expectation, Molly is about to burst a blood vessel waiting for them to share their awesome stories in space “- Oh, it was good” Nico says and takes another bite of heavenly red velvet cupcake.

 

“- Oh C’mon!” “- Give us some details!” “- You’re being an asshole”” “- Gary wants to hear tales of mayhem and destruction!”

 

Nico shares a look with Karolina and both laugh, the eagerness of their friends about a space adventure is endearing “- Okay, okay” Nico pacifies them “- It was really good, we thought it was gonna be a breeze, but we had to defend a whole city of refugees from a fleet of space pirates!” Nico says “- Oh! The things I was able to do with the Eye of Agamoto and the Staff! And you should have seen Karrie, she basically stopped the fight just by showing up!”

 

“- It was the uniform, people respects it” Karolina shrugs “- Captain Marvel carries a lot of weight across the galaxy”

 

“- Man! You’re so lucky” Molly says “- I always wanted to don the uniform”

 

Karolina smiles sympathetically at Molly, she understands, she would have never put on the Captain Marvel uniform but Kamala insisted (fervently) and Carol told her that she had earned her place among the nicknamed _Carol Corps_ long ago “- Don’t worry, Molls, you will be doing that soon enough” She tells Molly and she means it.

 

“- Oh, almost forgot” Molly says “- Alex texted me and apologizes for not being able to make it today and he wants to know if he can come for thanks giving” She adds nervously.

 

Things with Alex had been… complicated. With the help of many powerful wizards, Nico managed to give Alex back his life despite the clear animosity she displayed towards him, things were fine and civil for a time, but in typical Alex Wilder fashion, he got mixed in a battle between rival groups of the mob in L.A. The West Coast Avengers stepped in and, after an all-out shoot out in Santa Monica, they arrested everyone involved, Alex Wilder included. Nico was furious, and hell bent on let Alex rot in jail for as long as necessary, but he kept claiming it was a misunderstanding; there was a trial, in which Molly and Gert testified in his favor, and, in the end, he got a minimal sentence, he was released three years ago on parole and has behaved ever since.

 

Still, Nico is always weary about him and she would have been happy to forget everything about Alex Wilder, but, alright, he looked genuinely remorseful and has complied with every aspect of his sentence, and apart from Chase, no one else shares her apprehension towards him, they even seem to like him, so be it “- Alright” Nico tells Molly “- If his parole officer says it’s okay, he can come”

 

“- Great!” Molly says and immediately pulls out her phone and starts texting, without a doubt, to Alex.

 

“- Hey, you came a little early, but we did plan something, it’s actually just a picnic with a lot of food” Chase says, Nico perks up at the mention of food, the cupcakes she had only reminded her of how hungry she is “- So, why don’t you guys change while we set things ups?” He continues.

 

“- Sounds good” Nico says.

 

Gert, Chase, Molly, Vic and Lace lead all the pets to Gert’s backyard where, surely, the picnic will take place, Nico hear the bickering about remembering to buy a lot of vegan options and keep some sodas in the fridge.

 

A picnic does sound good, Nico would have preferred a couple of hours to herself to take bath and rest a little, but her family seemed so excited and she has missed them, she’s looking forward to this, she takes Karolina’s hand again and leads her the few steps for the central house, their house, she’s already picking an outfit for the picnic (considering the scorching weather, she has a mind for some shorts and a loose shirt) when she feels a tug in her hand. Karolina is walking slower than her with a funny look on her face

 

“- What are you thinking, Karrie?” Nico asks.

 

“- I’m gonna get so bored at work next week” Karolina says, she slaps Nico’s arm when she notices her wife is laughing at her “- Don’t laugh!” She says in good humor.

 

“- I’m sorry” Nico says “- It’s just that here you are grumbling about going to work on Monday when, just a week earlier, you were in outer space, light years from earth, laying waste to a pirate battle cruiser” She laughs again “- My little badass!”

 

“- Exactly! We kicked ass!” Karolina says and grumbles under her breath again “- And now we have to come back to our life and worry about paying bills and go grocery shop and clean all kinds of animal poop, ugh—I don’t wanna!” Karolina dramatizes, shaking like a petulant child.

 

Nico hugs Karolina and plants a kiss on her cheek “- You are so adorable” She says “- It’s not that bad”

 

“- What? Are you gonna tell me you miss those things?” Karolina asks, her humor is light and sunny despite the dread of mundanity setting in “- Sometimes I wish we could just, I don’t know, retire and live off the land or something” Karolina laughs

 

Nico can’t help but laugh too because it’s not that she miss those things but she likes doing them, mostly, but she also likes flying around conjuring magic and stopping magical giants from stomping the city, or going to space in diplomatic missions, and she also likes the days she get to stay home and play with their bunch of weird pets and cook something fancy for her family, obviously it’s not perfect, but she likes everything that comes with the life she’s served “- Well, we can always run away” Nico says with a smile.

 

Karolina smiles back and gives Nico a quick kiss.

 

Nico hugs Karolina’s arm, resting her head on her shoulder and goes inside the house, they have to change their clothes and go for a picnic and probably shop for groceries later and there’s a hundred more things need to be doing. It’s just how things are, but it’s all good, and neither Nico nor Karolina can’t wait to live this day, and the next day, and every day, together, in this path they choose, a life time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this fic is done!!! D-O-N-E! Man, I can’t believe it’s over, part of me didn’t want it to be over, which is normal, I guess, but there was other part that was dying to share this with you 
> 
> So, this is it, the ending, what do you guys think? 
> 
> First of all, did you guys really think, even for a moment, that I was gonna make Nico and Karolina split up somehow? Who do you take me for? That would never ever happen, c’mon, I thought we were friends :D 
> 
> I wanted this story to end in a positive, yet, mundane way, that is why it ended like this, they all got their happily ever after, but they still have to put effort into it because, well, life’s like that. I don’t want to go much into it, just, read it and let me know what you think.
> 
> So, a few notes,
> 
> Jennifer Takeda, Hazmat, is one of the kids in Avengers Academy that later got kidnapped by Arcade for Avengers Arena, she recently resurfaced in the new Captain Marvel series!
> 
> We’ll see Julie Power starting in august in the new series of Future Foundation! I don’t know about you but I’m really curious about how she dealt with being handed a one way ticket to dump town (I know she was the one who broke up with Karolina) the writer of the new series, Jeremy Whitley, promises that, what happened to Julie in Runaways will affect her deeply
> 
> Yes, Karolina made a cameo and fought alongside Beta Ray Bill (an alien version of Thor and my personal favorite Thor) in a miniseries called S.W.O.R.D. where the government agency S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) wanted to deport all aliens from earth.
> 
> Illyanna Rasputin, code name, Magik, is a mutant that has a deep connection to the magical world, her history is super weird, I don’t even know where to begin, anyway, it’s been implied that she’s the front runner candidate to replace Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme.
> 
> Kamala Kahn, aka Miss Marvel, is a relatively new super hero, created by G Willow Wilson, I think she would replace Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel at some point and I wanted to use that here, her comic first series that lasted 60 issues is incredibly fun and lovely, you should check it out too.
> 
> Gabby Kinney, aka Honey Badger, is the sister/clone of Laura Kinney, X-23, she’s super funny and she adopted an actual wolverine called Jonathan, they’re adorable and I like to think that at some point Molly and her would become friends and Gabby would give Molly at least one wolverine to adopt. Writer Tom Taylor created her some years ago and she has become an important part of the X-Men mythos ever since.
> 
> The Exiles were a real team, it had a short lived series in 2018, it was crazy fun and I thought than using them to fix the mayor shitstorm in this story was neat, plus having Gert tagging along with them solved the age difference between her and the rest of the Runaways. And yes, there was a cartoon Wolverine, and Peggy Carter was Captain America, and the Valkyrie of the comic is the Tessa Thompson version and she ended up dating a female version of Bucky, oh and you probably met their leader, Blink, she was adapted in an X-Men movie (I forgot which one) some years ago.
> 
> For the last part of the chapter, let’s call it an epilogue, I used the 10 years time frame because that is the same year Evil Victor came from. What I wanted to show you is that, yes, that future was avoided, at least for the moment, there are a lot of similarities, though, Nico and Karolina married, both of them being very powerful, the Runaways (or the Pride if you want to see them that way) still together, I think part of the charm of Runaways is that they’re good people that, given their terrible parents, have to check themselves all the time to make sure they’re not turning evil, and I wanted to try to reflect that.
> 
> So, as future projects go, I’m gonna take a little break with the characters, I’m thinking in writing a few one shots set in the same continuity as this fic with the Runaways interacting with Marvel characters in situations that I think would be fun, but that would have to wait like a month for the first one. But rest assured that I don’t plan on ever stop writing Runaways, these characters mean the world to me and I want to keep writing about them for as long as I can.
> 
> Anyway, I want to thank you all for reading during all these months, for keeping interest in my silly story and for your lovely comments, it was so heartwarming and so much fun reading your reactions and your encouragement, I don’t think there are proper words to thank you as you all deserve, It’s been quite the journey and I enjoyed the hell out of it, I only hope you had as much funs as I did.
> 
> Thank you so much, I love you all.


End file.
